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Messi, Ronaldo, Xavi nominated for top FIFA award

Dunya News

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernandez have been nominated for top FIFA award.

Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez will be up against Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo for the FIFA world player of the year award, mirroring the intense rivalry between the Spanish giants.The three Ballon dOr finalists were named Monday from 23 nominees. Messi beat Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi to win last year.Messi also won the award two years ago when France Football magazine chose the best player in Europe. The Ballon dOr is now merged with FIFAs player of the year award to create one trophy.Messi and Ronaldo have already scored 17 league goals this season. They face each other in the Spanish league on Saturday.Its great to be again nominated as one of the FIFA Ballon dOr final 3 contenders, Ronaldo said on his Twitter account.Ronaldo won the Golden Ball award in 2008, and his quest to overtake Messi as the worlds top player has seen the Portuguese star playing probably the best football of his career over the past year.He broke the Spanish league scoring record with 40 goals last season, including 11 in his last four games.Messi scored fewer 31 league goals but set up more than Ronaldo. He also walked away with the Champions League and Spanish league titles, while Ronaldo only won the Copa del Rey, or Spanish Cup, scoring with a bullet header in the final against Barcelona.The winner will be announced on Jan. 9 in Zurich, Switzerland.If Messi wins the award for the third time, he will join former France midfielder Michel Platini, and former Netherlands greats Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten as three-time Golden Ball winners.The 24-year-old Messi scored in the 3-1 win over Manchester United in last seasons Champions League final.
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