Johannesburg: Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and David Villa of Spain, the leading scorers of this edition of the World Cup, are among the 10 footballers who were on Friday shortlisted for the Golden Ball award.
FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke and Adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer officially announced the nominees. The Golden Ball is the official FIFA trophy awarded for the 'Best Player of the Tournament'.
The ten nominees are: Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Mesut Oezil (Germany), Arjen Robben (the Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (the Netherlands), David Villa (Spain), Xavi (Spain).
The ten players were selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group. Accredited media representatives will vote to determine the winners of the Adidas Golden, Silver and Bronze ball awards. The winners will be announced after the final between Spain and Netherlands on July 11.
The previous winners of the Golden Ball award are: Paolo Rossi (Italy, 1982), Diego Maradona (Argentina, 1986), Salvatore Schillaci (Italy, 1990), Romario (Brazil, 1994), Ronaldo (Brazil, 1998), Oliver Kahn (Germany, 2002), Zinedine Zidane (France, 2006)
Young Player Award
Germany's Thomas Mueller is among three candidates on the shortlist for the best young player at the World Cup award.
Andre Ayew of Ghana and Mexico's Giovani Dos Santos are also in contention for the honor. Players must be born after January 1989.
The 20-year-old Mueller scored four goals in Germany's run to the semifinals but was suspended for its 1-0 loss to Spain.
The shortlist was decided by a FIFA technical panel of coaches and former players. The panel will choose the winner and announce its selection on Sunday after the World Cup final.
The award was first made at the 2006 tournament to Germany's Lukas Podolski.
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