The Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has been named on a 30-man shortlist to win the 2017 Ballon d’Or.
Kane has enjoyed a superb year, scoring 43 times in 37 appearances for club and country, to help Spurs qualify for the Champions League and England secure a place at the 2018 World Cup.
Kane is the only Englishman in the running for the award, and joins the likes of the 2016 winner Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez, and their old team-mate Neymar on the shortlist.
Chelsea’s N’Golo Kanté and Eden Hazard, Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mané, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea are the other Premier League representatives.
La Liga leads the way with 11 players on the shortlist – including seven of the Real Madrid XI who started the Champions League final against Juventus. Serie A has six and France’s Ligue 1 has four, with just three Bundesliga players nominated.
The Ballon d’Or, which is judged by a panel of journalists, ran in conjunction with Fifa from 2010 until 2015, when the governing body split to create its own Best Player award.
Ronaldo is a strong favourite to retain his crown, which would see the Real Madrid and Portugal forward pull level with Messi in winning it five times, when the winner is announced in December.
30-man 2017 Ballon d’Or shortlist
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Leonardo Bonucci (Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Kevin de Bruyne (Man City), David de Gea (Man Utd), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Edin Dzeko (Roma), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Isco (Real Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham), N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Neymar (PSG), Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Luis Suárez (Barcelona).
Giroud nominated for Puskas award
Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud has made the shortlist for Fifa’s 2017 Puskas Award, awarded for the “most beautiful goal of the season”, alongside a Venezuelan teenager and South African goalkeeper.
Giroud’s strike against Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day, when the Frenchman scored with an improvised scorpion kick which went in off the crossbar, has been nominated despite not winning the Premier League’s goal of the season award which went to Liverpool’s Emre Can.
The 31-year-old will go up against Denya Castellos, nominated for her effort from the halfway line against Cameroon at the Women’s Under-17 World Cup in Jordan last year, and Oscarine Masuluke.
Baroka’s Masuluke is the first goalkeeper to be shortlisted for the award, after scoring an injury-time overhead kick in a 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League.
Penang’s Mohd Faiz Subri, who plays in the Malaysian Super League, won the 2016 award with a 40-yard swerving free kick.
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