Messi, Ronaldo vie for Ballon D’or

The three Ballon d’Or finalists were named yesterday from 23 nominees. Messi beat Barcelona team-mates 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 d’Or is now merged with Fifa’s player of the year award to create one trophy.

“It’s great to win individual awards but what comes first for me is winning matches and titles,” Messi said. He and Ronaldo have already scored 17 league goals each this season and face each other in La Liga on Saturday. “It’s great to be again nominated as one of the Fifa Ballon d’Or 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 world’s top player has seen the Portuguese star playing probably the best football of his career. 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 9 January in Zurich. 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.

Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho, Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson and Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola are in the running for best coach.