Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi for Ballon d'Or final list

LIONEL Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez are the three players selected for three-man shortlist to win FIFA Ballon d'Or award.It is the second year in a row that the final trio in the running for the annual prize for the best player in the world have all come from the Spanish league.Last year Messi and Xavi were joined by Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta, with the award going to Messi. It meant that the Argentine international won the inaugural, unified award having claimed both the FIFA World Player of the Year prize and the then separate Ballon d'Or the previous year.Messi is on course to claim a hat-trick of Ballon d'Or after helping Barcelona to win La Liga and the Champions League final, in which he was named man of the match.Portugal forward Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, won both awards in 2008 while at Manchester United. since moving to the Bernabeu for a world record 80 million fee two-and-a-half years ago, he has scored more than 100 goals for Real.Xavi, at 31 easily the oldest player on the list, came third in last year's vote among internationals managers and captains as well as selected football journalists from around the globe.Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola was nominated for the FIFA Coach of the Year award along with Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho and Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson.The winner of the awards will be named in a gala ceremony in Zurich on January 9 2012.
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