Aimee
Four German players have been included on FIFA’s ten-man shortlist for the 2014 World Cup Golden Ball.
The Golden Ball is awarded to the best player at the World Cup, with the winner voted for by representatives of the media.
The award was first handed out to Argentina striker Mario Kempes at the 1978 World Cup and has since been awarded to the likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Diego Forlan.
The top ten list included World Cup finalists Germany’s Mats Hummels, Philipp Lahm, Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller – who has scored five goals.
For their opponents in Sunday’s final, Argentina, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano and – inevitably – four-goal striker and captain Lionel Messi made the list.
Also included was Colombia’s attacking midfielder James Rodriguez, widely considered to be the revelation of the tournament and top scorer so far with six goals in his team’s run to the quarter-final where they were beaten by Brazil.
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The other two players short-listed were the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben, who tormented defences throughout and scored three in his nation’s progress to the semi-final, and Brazil’s Neymar who had played superbly and bagged four goals before suffering injury.
