Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben and Manuel Neuer have been named to UEFA’s shortlist for the 2013/14 Best Player in Europe Award.
The voting was done by a collection of journalists from each of UEFA’s 54-member associations. The nominees were whittled down to these three candidates from another shortlist which consisted of ten European players.
Ronaldo has made the shortlist for the fourth consecutive year, but has failed to win the award during prior seasons. The Real Madrid forward broke the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League campaign last season, while leading his club to its tenth European title.
The Portugal international also single-handedly lifted his country into this summer’s World Cup in Brazil; scoring all four goals in both legs against Sweden.
Arjen Robben helped Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and UEFA Super Cup last season. The Netherlands international also scored three goals during his country’s World Cup campaign, which ended in a surprise third place finish. His efforts in the summer tournament earned him a spot on FIFA’s World Cup All Star team.
Manuel Neuer was a teammate of Robben’s during their successful German campaign with Bayern. The goalkeeper was named German footballer of the year for the second time on August 10. He was also Germany’s number one goalkeeper during their run to a fourth World Cup title.
The overall winner will be decided by a live vote on August 28 in Monaco during the Champions League group stage draw.
