Franck Ribery Wins UEFA Best Player in Europe Award

UEFA have named Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery as the recipient of the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2013.

Ribery, who was instrumental in helping Bayern Munich win the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League final, beat Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the hotly contested honor. For Ribery to beat both Messi and Ronaldo is quite an achievement for such a talented footballer.

The initial list of footballers who were contenders for the award, which was selected by a jury of journalists representing each of UEFA’s member national associations, were:

Gareth Bale (WAL) – Tottenham Hotspur FC
Edinson Cavani (URU) – SSC Napoli
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – Real Madrid CF
Dante (BRA) – FC Bayern München
Edin Džeko (BIH) – Manchester City FC
Falcao (COL) – Club Atlético de Madrid (now at AS Monaco FC)
Mario Götze (GER) – Borussia Dortmund (now at FC Bayern München)
İlkay Gündoğan (GER) – Borussia Dortmund
Zlatan Ibrahimović (SWE) – Paris Saint-Germain FC
Andrés Iniesta (ESP) – FC Barcelona
Branislav Ivanović (SRB) – Chelsea FC
Javi Martínez (ESP) – FC Bayern München
Philipp Lahm (GER) – FC Bayern München
Robert Lewandowski (POL) – Borussia Dortmund
Mario Mandžukić (CRO) – FC Bayern München
Lionel Messi (ARG) – FC Barcelona
Thomas Müller (GER) – FC Bayern München
Manuel Neuer (GER) – FC Bayern München
Óscar Cardozo (PAR) – SL Benfica
Andrea Pirlo (ITA) – Juventus
Franck Ribéry (FRA) – FC Bayern München
Arjen Robben (NED) – FC Bayern München
Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER) – FC Bayern München
Robin van Persie (NED) – Manchester United FC
Arturo Vidal (CHI) – Juventus
Xavi Hernández (ESP) – FC Barcelona

Then, out of those above named footballers, a shortlist was chosen. The players who made the shortlist were:

Gareth Bale (WAL) – Tottenham Hotspur FC
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – Real Madrid CF
Zlatan Ibrahimović (SWE) – Paris Saint-Germain FC
Robert Lewandowski (POL) – Borussia Dortmund
Lionel Messi (ARG) – FC Barcelona
Thomas Müller (GER) – FC Bayern München
Franck Ribéry (FRA) – FC Bayern München
Arjen Robben (NED) – FC Bayern München
Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER) – FC Bayern München
Robin van Persie (NED) – Manchester United FC