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Chelsea’s Spanish striker Diego Costa was named along with usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 23- man FIFA Ballon D’Or short-list released on Tuesday.
Manuel Neuer and Mario Gotze from World Cup winners Germany also made the cut.
Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale and Manchester United’s Angel di Maria have also been enlisted along with Paris St Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Costa’s Chelsea teammates, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and winger Eden Hazard are also included in the list.
Big-biting Uruguay and Barca striker Luis Suarez has been ignored for the honour despite winning the Golden Boot Trophy last week.
Juergen Klinsmann was included among the coaches after leading United States to the last 16 of the World Cup but Jorge Luis Pinto and Jose Pekerman, who took Costa Rica and Colombia respectively to the quarter-finals, were overlooked.
Jorge Sampaoli, whose hugely entertaining Chile side knocked out defending champions Spain on their way to the last sixteen, and Vahid Halilhodzic, who took an inspirational Algeria to the knockout stages, were also ignored.
On the other hand, there was room for Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola, even though his team's most important match of the year, a Champions League semi-final at home to Real Madrid, ended in a 4-0 defeat.
Almost inevitably, Chelsea's Jose Mourinho also sneaked in despite failing to land a trophy on his return to Stamford Bridge.
Player of the Year shortlist:
Mario Goetze (Germany)
Toni Kroos (Germany)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Thomas Mueller (Germany)
Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Andres Iniesta (Spain)
Sergio Ramos (Spain)
Diego Costa (Spain)
Karim Benzema (France)
Paul Pogba (France)
Gareth Bale (Wales)
Eden Hazard (Belgium)
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Neymar (Brazil)
Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
James Rodriguez (Colombia)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Coach of the Year
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)
Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC)
Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich)
Juergen Klinsmann (United States)
Joachim Loew (Germany)
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea)
Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City)
Alejandro Sabella (Argentina)
Diego Simeone (Argentina)
Louis van Gaal (Netherlands)