By Adebayo Williams
The list of the 30 players that will compete to make the final three slots for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award has been released. Favourite to win the award is Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. The 30-year-old helped his club to a UEFA Champions League win scoring the last penalty kick. He was also instrumental in his country’s triumph at the European Championships in France in the summer. Although he had been injured, Ronaldo was on the touchline encouraging his teammates.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi will be aiming to win his sixth award. His only stumbling block remains Argentina’s failure to win the Copa America trophy losing it to Chile, who won it for the second consecutive time.
Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gareth Bale, Gianluigi Buffon, Kevin De Bruyne, Paulo Dybala, Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann, Gonzalo Higuain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta, Koke and Toni Kroos.
Others are: Robert Lewandowski, Hugo Lloris, Riyad Mahrez, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Neymar, Rui Patricio, Dimitri Payet, Pepe and Paul Pogba,
Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Jamie Vardy and Arturo Vidal complete the 30-man list.
