BALLON D’OR, TEAM OF THE YEAR

The Ballon d’Or is an award that occurs every year and has been going on since 1956.The Ballon d’Or is a trophy which the footballers of the world vote for who they would like to win it. There are three nominees’ for the Ballon d’Or and the player with the most votes wins. The nominees’ this year were Manuel Neuer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. This year Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or for the 3rd time. The Fifa Ambassador’s pick super team of the year which is put in the video game ‘Fifa’. This is this year’s team include: 99 98 96Ronaldo Lionel Messi Robben 94 95 Di Maria 93 Andres Inesta Toni Kroos 94 89 93 95

Sergio Ramos David Luiz Thiago Silva Philip Lahm 96

Neuer Manuel Neuer: Full name- Manuel Peter Neuer Date of birth- 27 March 1986 Place of birth- Gelsenkirchen, Germany Height- 6ft 4in Position- Goalkeeper Club- Bayern Munchen Country- Germany

Sergio Ramos: Full name- Sergio Ramos Garcia Date of birth- 30th March 1989 Place of birth- Camas, Spain Height- 6ft Position- Defender Club- Real Madrid Country- Spain

David Luiz: Full name- David Luiz Moreira Marinho Date of birth- 22nd April 1987 Place of birth- Diadema, Brazil Height- 6ft 2in

Position- Defender Club-PSG Country-Brazil

Thiago Silva: Full name- Thiago Emilano da Silva Date of birth- 22nd September 1984 Place of birth- Rio De Janerio, Brazil Height- 6ft Position- Defender Club-PSG Country-Brazil

Philipp Lahm: Full name- Philipp Lahm Date of birth-11th November 1983 Place of birth- Munich,Germany Height- 5ft 7in Position- Defender Club-Bayern Munchen Country-Germany

Andres Iniesta

Full name- Andres Iniesta Lujan Date of birth- 11 May 1984 Place of birth- Funentealbilla, Spain Height- 5ft 7in Position- Midfielder Club-Barcelona Country-Spain

Angel Di Maria

Full name-Angel Di Maria Hernadez Date of birth- 14th February 1988 Place of birth- Rosario, Argentina Height- 5ft 10in Position- Midfielder/Winger Club-Manchester United Country-Argentina

Toni Kroos: Full name- Toni Kroos Date of birth- 4th January 1990 Place of birth- Griefswald, Germany Height- 6ft Poisition- Midfielder Club-Real Madrid Country-Germany

Cristiano Ronaldo: Full name- Cristiano Ronaldo do Santos Aveiro Date of birth- 5th February 1985 Place of birth- Fuchal, , Portugal Height- 6ft 1in Position- Winger/forward Club-Real Madrid Country-Portugal

Lionel Messi: Full name- Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini Date of birth- 24th June 1987 Place of birth- Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina Height- 5ft 6in Position- Forward Club- Barcelona Country-Argentina

Arjen Robben: Full name-Aejen Robben Date of birth- 23rd January 1984 Place of birth- Bedum, Netherlands Height- 5ft 11in Position- Winger

Club-Bayern Munchen Country-Netherlands

BALLON D’OR NOMINEES

MANUEL NEUER

Born: March 27 1986 Gelsenkirchen West GermanyManuel Neuer is a goalkeeper for Bayern Munich and Germany. He is known as the sweeper keeper for acting as a defender for his team. He

is a leader and was a dominant force in the Germany team. He has quick reflexes and great shot stopping abilities. He learnt these skills as he played handball as a child. His first team Schalke signed him at the age of 5.He made his Bundesliga debut on the 19th of August 2006.Then after 8 months out with an injury he decided to move to Bayern Munich. He improved even more with Bayern, he helped them to a Champion’s League final and in the Semi Final he saved a few penalties against the much favoured Real Madrid. He is Germany’s 1st choice goalkeeper and helped them to their 2014 world cup success by keeping them in the competition a few times. He won the award of the Golden Glove, which is the best goalkeeper in the world cup.

Teams that he has played for: Schalke 04 from 2004 up until 2011Bayern Munich 2011 until nowHis stats for this seasons Bundesliga are 16 appearances 9 clean sheets

World cup: He was awarded the Golden Glove award at the World Cup for the best goalkeeper. He had 4 clean sheets in the 2014 world cup.

He received the nomination for the Ballon d’or because he has been the best goalkeeper by a mile this season.He came 3rd overall in the Ballon d’or ,which is unbelievable for a goalkeeper.

Lionel Messi Born 24th June 1987 in Rosario, ArgentinaMessi is a centre forward for Barcelona football club, Spain. At the age of 11 Messi was diagnosed with a growth disease. Many teams in the Argentine league wanted to sign him but weren’t willing to pay for his treatment. Then Barcelona heard about him and signed him. He made his debut in 2004 against local club Espanyol. Messi then broke into the first team making himself a regular starter. He is arguably the best player in the world although he is only 1.70m tall. He is so fast and is unbelievable at dribbling. He is a top goal scorer and has scored 356 goals for Barcelona and 42 for Argentina. He is Barcelona’s 4th captain. He has won 4 Ballon d’or which is the most wins ever. He has 461 appearances for Barcelona and his contact ends in 2018. He helped his country get to the final of the World Cup. He won the best player in the World Cup 2014.Stats this season 36 appearances 38 goalsTeams that Lionel Messi has played for:

1999 to now Barcelona 7 Champions league games Honours: 4 Ballon d’ors, 3 European golden shoe awards, 6 La Ligas , 2 Copa del Rey’s , 6 Supercopas , 3 Champions leagues. His nomination for the Ballon d’or this year was due to the fact he has had an amazing year and led his team to the World Cup Final. He received the player of the tournament over Ronaldo and Neymar

Cristiano RonaldoBorn 5th February 1985, Madeira Portugal Ronaldo was signed by Sporting Lisbon at the age of 10. He is an unbelievable hard working man who has trained so hard and deserves to be where he is right now. Members of his first club Sporting Lisbon said that they used to have to lock the gym at night because whenever everyone else was sleeping Ronaldo would sneak out and go into the gym and train. Ronaldo became the first Sporting player ever to play for their under 16,17,18 B team and A team all in one season. He was asked to join Arsenal in 2002.Then Liverpool and Barcelona wanted to sign him. Later on that season, Sporting played a friendly against Man Utd and they won 3 - 1. After the game the united players all asked Sir Alex Ferguson to sign him. 5 days later they did.

He made his Man Utd debut against Bolton. When he was 22 he received a Ballon d’or nomination. He is credited as one of the best united players of all time. He helped united to 3 premier leagues and 1 Champions League. In 2009, he signed for Real Madrid for 94 million euros. Ronaldo made his Madrid debut in a 1 - 0 victory over Shamrock Rovers in a friendly. He is hard working, has loads of pace and is very intelligent. He has won the Ballon d’or 3 times. Stats: Sporting 23 appearances 3 goals Man United: 196 appearances 84 goals Real Madrid: 187 appearances 207 goals

Teams that Ronaldo has played for Sporting Lisbon 2002/03Man utd 2003 until 2009 Real Madrid 2009 until now

HISTORY1956, Stanley Matthews was the first winner of the Ballon d’Or. He was from England and he played for Blackpool.1957, Alfredo di Stefano was from Spain and he played for Real Madrid.1958,Raymond Kopa was from France and he played for Real Madrid.1959, Alfredo di Stefano was from Spain and he played for Real Madrid.1960, luis Suarez was from Spain and played for Barcelona.1961, Omar Sivori was from Italy and played for Juventus.1962, Josef Masopust was from Czech Republic and he played for Dukla Prague. 1963, Lev Yashin was from Russia soviet union and he played for Dynamo Moscow.1964, Denis Law was from Scotland and he played Man United.1965, Eusebio was from Portugal and he played for Benfica1966, Bobby Charlton was England and he played for Man United.

1967, Florian Albert was from Hungary and he played for Ferencvarosi Tc .1968, George Best was from Northen Ireland and he played for Man United.1969, Gianna Rivera was from Italy and he played for Milan.1970, Gerd Muller was from Germany and he played for Bayern Munich1971, Johan Cruyff was from Holland and he played for Ajax.1972, Franz Beckenbaur was from Germany and he played for Bayern Munich.1973, Johan Cruyff was from Holland and he played for Barcelona.1974, Johan Cruyff he was from Holland and he played for Barcelona.1975, Oleg Blokhin was from Russia Soviet union and he played for Dynamo Kyiv.1976, Franz Beckenbaur was from Germany and he played for Bayern Munich.1977, Allan Simonsen was from Denmark and he played for Borussia.1978, Kevin Keegan was from England and he played for Hamburg.1979, Kevin Keegan was from England and he played for Hamburg.

1980, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was from Germany and he played for Bayern Munich1981, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was from Germany and he played for Bayern Munich1982, Paola Rossi was from Italy and he played for Juventus1983, Michel Platini was from France and he played for Juventus.1984, Michel Platini was from France and he played for Juventus. 1985, Michel Platini was from France and he played for Juventus.1986, Igor Belanov was from Russia soviet union and he played for Dynamo Kyiv.1987, Ruud Gullit was from Holland and he played for Milan.1988, Marco Van Basten was from Holland and he played for Milan.1989, Marco Van Basten was from Holland and he played for Milan.1990, Lothar Matthaus was from Germany and he played for Internazionale.1991, Jean-Pierre Papin was from France and he played for Marseille.1992, Marco Van Basten was from Holland and he played for Milan.

1993, Robert Baggio was from Italy and he played for Juventus.1994, Hristo Stoichkov was from Bulgaria and he played for Barcelona.1995, George Weah was from Liberia and he played for Milan.1996, Matthias Sammer was from Germany and he played for Borrusia Dortmund.1997, Ronaldo was from Brazil and he played for Internazionale.1998, Zinedine Zidane was from France and he played for Juventus.1999, Rivaldo was from Brazil and he played for Barcelona2000, Luis Figo was from Portugal and he played for Real Madrid.2001. Michael Owen was from England and he played for Liverpool.2002, Ronaldo was from Brazil and he played Real Madrid.2003, Pavel Nedved was from the Czech Republic and he played for Juventus.2004, Andriy Shevchenko was from the Ukraine and he played for Milan.2005, Ronaldinho was from Brazil and he played for Barcelona.

2006, Fabio Cannovaro was from Italy and he played for Real Madrid.2007, Kaka was from Brazil and he played for Milan.2008, Christiano Ronaldo was from Portugal and he played for Man United.2009, Lionel Messi was from Argentina and he played for Barcelona.2010, Lionel Messi was from Argentina and he played for Barcelona.2011, Lionel Messi was from Argentina and he played for Barcelona.2012, Lionel Messi was from Argentina and he played for Barcelona.2013, Ronaldo was from Portugal and he played for Real Madrid.2014, Ronaldo was from Portugal and he played for Real Madrid.Players Who Have Won The Ballon d ’or the Most.Lionel Messi, 4Christiano Ronaldo, 3Michel Platini, 3Johan Cruyff, 3Marco Van Basten, 3