Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois, And Jose Mourinho On Ballon d’Or Shortlist

The FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist has been announced Monday and three Chelsea FC players were on the list: Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, and Thibaut Courtois. Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho has also been nominated as one of the ten best managers in world football. This was expected for the two attackers but Courtois is one of only two goalkeepers nominated for the award after his phenomenal season with Atletico Madrid.

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The award is given to the player selected as the best footballer in the world and it has been dominated in recent years by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. No Chelsea FC player has even won the Ballon d’Or but one player did come very close. Frank Lampard finished second to Brazilian legend Ronaldinho in 2005 but no other Chelsea FC player has even made the top three. Eden Hazard or Diego Costa may very well finish in the top three but it would be quite the shock if either of them were selected ahead of the world class duo in La Liga.

"“The candidates for the FIFA Ballon d’Or and for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football awards have been unveiled (see below). The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football.The winners of all of the awards will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or as part of a televised show at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 12 January 2015, during which the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award – for the most beautiful goal of the year – the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented.The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn up by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and by a group of experts from France Football. The list of ten coaches has been drawn up by the Committee for Women’s Football and FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and by the FIFA Football Committee, as well as by a group of experts from France Football.”Source: FIFA.com"

There is not much stock in the outcome of the Ballon d’Or voting as it is seen by many as an award that is more of a popularity contest than anything. While it is hard to argue that Messi or Ronaldo are not deserving of the award but some point to Messi’s dominance of it as an example of favoritism. Given Jose Mourinho’s lack of trophies last season it is also unlikely that he will be selected but is an honor to be nominated. That supposed favoritism may be just another crazy anti-FIFA conspiracy but maybe the powers that be will decide that Eden Hazard or Diego Costa are more deserving this time around.

Here is the full list of Ballon d’Or candidates:

Gareth Bale (Wales)
Karim Benzema (France)
Diego Costa (Spain)
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
Mario Goetze (Germany)
Eden Hazard (Belgium)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Thomas Mueller (Germany)
Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Neymar (Brazil)
Paul Pogba (France)
Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire)

Here is the list of Ballon d’Or coaching candidates:

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF)
Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team)
Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich)
Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team)
Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team)
Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC)
Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC)
Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team)
Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid)
Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC)

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