ZURICH (AP) – All three players shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award were selected by their peers for the 2014 FIFPro World XI team.
Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer and Cristiano Ronaldo were among seven 2013 team members who retained their places in worldwide voting by 23 000 members of national players’ unions.
Germany’s World Cup-winning captain Philipp Lahm, Brazil captain Thiago Silva, and Spain pair Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta also stayed in the elite line-up.
David Luiz was included in the defence despite playing in Brazil’s 7-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals, and 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the third-place match.
Arjen Robben was the only Dutch player picked, and Angel Di Maria joined Argentina teammate Messi.
Toni Kroos is the third Germany player selected.
