C.Ronaldo ,Di Maria and Van Gaal on Ballon D'Or shortlists (See Full list)

The United pair have been recognised for their efforts in 2014 with a place on the shortlists for player and coach of the year respectively.

 
Angel di Maria is the sole Manchester United player in the running for the Ballon D'Or this year.

The £60m summer signing is up for Fifa's annual prize for his form across 2014, where he will compete with no Reds but no less than six Real Madrid players - the club he came to Old Trafford from - in the shortlist of 23 names.

Former Red Cristiano Ronaldo is the hot favourite for the prize, having also won it last year.

World Cup winners Germany have six players on the list - the most from any nation.

There may be no United players in the running but manager Louis van Gaal is one of ten to be up for coach of the year.

Manchester City have one player in contention for the award in Yaya Toure, while Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is another absentee from the list.

The 23-man list will be whittled down to three on December 1, with the winner announced in Zurich on January 12.

Ballon D'or shortlist: Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Cote d'Ivoire).            

Coach of the year shortlist: Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC).    

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