TEN PLAYERS SHORTLISTED FOR EUROPE'S BEST PLAYER AWARD

The initial 2013/14 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award shortlist has been revealed, with ten players set for a second round of voting to decide the three finalist nominees.
The ten-player shortlist for the 2013/14 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award has been announced.

The players, listed in alphabetical order, are as follows:

• Diego Costa (Spain, Club Atlético de Madrid – now at Chelsea FC)
• Ángel Di María (Argentina, Real Madrid CF)
• James Rodríguez (Colombia, AS Monaco FC)
• Philipp Lahm (Germany, FC Bayern München)
• Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
• Thomas Müller (Germany, FC Bayern München)
• Manuel Neuer (Germany, FC Bayern München)
• Arjen Robben (Netherlands, FC Bayern München)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid CF)
• Luis Suárez (Uruguay, Liverpool FC – now at FC Barcelona)

Those ten now go into a second round of voting to produce the three finalist nominees, who will be named on Thursday 14 August. The award will then be presented in Monaco on 28 August during the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage draw.

As in previous years, a jury of journalists from each of UEFA's member associations has provided the initial list by voting for their five best players. The players are ordered from one to five, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on.

Only the ten best-ranked players advance to the second vote, which in turn defines the three finalists. That same jury will then cast their live votes during a special ceremony at the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, with the journalists using an electronic system to determine the outright winner from the three candidates.

In total, 35 players received votes in the initial poll (those not in the final shortlist are named below in order of how they finished):

11	Sergio Ramos, Spain, Real Madrid CF
12	Thibaut Courtois, Belgium, Club Atlético de Madrid (Chelsea FC)
13	Zlatan Ibrahimović, Sweden, Paris Saint-Germain
	Andrea Pirlo, Italy, Juventus
15	Yaya Touré, Ivory Coast, Manchester City FC
16	Toni Kroos, Germany, FC Bayern München – now at Real Madrid CF
17	Neymar, Brazil, FC Barcelona
	Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany, FC Bayern München
19	Gareth Bale, Wales, Real Madrid CF
20	Diego Godin, Uruguay, Club Atlético de Madrid
21	Sergio Agüero, Argentina, Manchester City FC
	Koke, Spain, Club Atlético de Madrid
	Arturo Vidal, Chile, Juventus
24	Karim Benzema, France, Real Madrid CF
	Kris Commons, Scotland, Celtic FC
	Javier Mascherano, Argentina, FC Barcelona
	Franck Ribéry, France, FC Bayern München
28	Mario Götze, Germany, FC Bayern München
	Mats Hummels, Germany, Borussia Dortmund
	Ivan Rakitić, Croatia, Sevilla FC – now at FC Barcelona
	Thiago Silva, Brazil, Paris Saint-Germain
	Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands, Galatasaray AŞ
	Carlos Tévez, Argentina, Juventus
	Arda Turan, Turkey, Club Atlético de Madrid
	Robin van Persie, Netherlands, Manchester United FC

This season marks the fourth edition of the award, which was born out of an initiative by UEFA President Michel Platini, in partnership with the European Sports Media (ESM) group. Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Franck Ribéry won the first, second and third editions respectively.