As the World Cup finals come closer, Fifa has also announced the list of the final ten player contending for the Golden Ball award.
The adidas Golden Ball winner is crowned as the best player for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It will be decided by the Technical Study Group of FIFA.
It started in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Some past winners include: Diego Forlan (2010), Zinedine Zidane (2006), Oliver Kahn (2002), Ronaldo (1998), Romario (1994), Salvatore Schillaci (1990), Diego Maradona (1986), and Paolo Rossi (1982).
For this year, Fifa has counted in Lionel Messi and Neymar on a 10-player list of candidates to be named the World Cup's best player.
Seven out of the 10 players for the Golden Ball come from this year's finalists, Argentina and Germany.
The winner will announced after Sunday's final.
Argentina has three of the ten candidates namely: Messi, Angel di Maria, and Javier Mascherano.
On the other hand, Germany has four including: Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, and Thomas Muller.
Nevertheless, the hosts provided one candidate in the face of Neymar, though he has been ruled out of the tournament early due to his injury.
Another semifinalist who made it into the list is Netherlands' Arjen Robben, although they have been defeated by the Albiceleste in the semifinals.
There is no surprise, too that James Rodríguez of Colombia, the tournament's top scorer with six goals, is included in the list, even though their team has been defeated by Brazil just in their quarterfinals.
If Messi could win this award, his football resume would have been perfect, after he gained a similar awars during the Premiere League season. He is also pressured very much to win the World Cup for Argentina.
Also, there is a lucky winner from the viewers that can win an actual match football after he guessed the best player via online submission. It is selected randomly, though.
