Finalists Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr will fly to Zurich
on Monday to attend the gala
The Argentine is opting for the award for the fifth time
in his career, while the Brazilian is going for his first
The final touches are being put
on at the Kongresshaus in Zurich,
Switzerland, where on Monday evening at 6.15pm CET
the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala will be the centre of
attention for the entire football world.
FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr , who are
two of the three finalists for the award, will travel to
Zurich on Monday and will be in attendance when the
envelope is unsealed and the winner's name is called
out. For Messi, this is the ninth consecutive year he
has been named a finalist for the award, the most
coveted individual prize in world football.
Messi is going for his fifth Ballon d'Or, a jaw-dropping
feat considering the fact that in the history of the
award, he is the only person to have won it more than
three times. Four other players have won it exactly
three times — Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini, Marco van
Basten and Cristiano Ronaldo — while just five other
players have ever won it twice. Messi won his
unprecedented fourth straight Ballon d'Or in 2013 and
is now looking to distance himself from the pack.
Messi's teammate at FC Barcelona, Neymar Jr., has
been named a finalist for the very first time. The other
finalist for this year's award is Real Madrid's Ronaldo,
who won the last two editions.
Messi and Ronaldo have scooped up every Ballon d'Or
for the last seven years. That number is almost certain
to rise to eight on Monday.
The FC Barcelona expedition is scheduled depart from
Barcelona-El Prat Airport at noon on Monday, headed
by Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Bartomeu will
be accompanied by the Vice President, Jordi Mestre ;
the Football Director, Javier Bordas ; the Professionals
Sports Director, Albert Soler ; and the First Team
Technical Secretary, Robert Fernández .
Also joining the Club will be ex-players and Ballon d'Or
winners Hristo Stoichkov and Luis Suárez Miramontes .
The FIFPro World XI and other awards
Aside from the Ballon d'Or, FC Barcelona is up for
several other awards as well. Ten FCB players out of a
total of 55 nominees could be named to the FIFA
FIFPro World XI . They include defenders Dani Alves,
Gerard Piqué, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba ;
midfielders Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Ivan
Rakitic; and forwards Leo Messi, Neymar Jr. and Luis
Suárez.
FC Barcelona manager Luis Enrique is one of three
finalists for the Coach of the Year award, along with
former Barça and current Bayern Munich coach Pep
Guardiola and Chile national team coach Jorge
Sampaoli .
Messi is not only opting for the Ballon d'Or, either. He
is also a finalist for the Puskás Award, for the best
goal of the year. Messi was nominated for the award
for his wonder goal against Athletic Club Bilbao in the
2015 Copa del Rey Final . The other two Puskás
finalists are Alessandro Florenzi of AS Roma and the
Brazilian Wendell Lira .
