Neuer and Pogba take awards with Messi
Sunday, July 13, 2014
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Manuel Neuer and Paul Pogba were among those honoured in the FIFA World Cup post-tournament awards as Lionel Messi was named the best player in Brazil.
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Manuel Neuer and Paul Pogba were among the players rewarded in the FIFA World Cup post-tournament awards.
Argentina striker Lionel Messi suffered a 1-0 extra-time final defeat by Germany but the FC Barcelona man won the Golden Ball as best player. In the poll of the FIFA technical study group, Messi finished ahead of two FC Bayern München players: Germany's Thomas Müller and Netherlands winger Arjen Robben.
Müller was also second in the race for the Golden Boot, which he won as top scorer four years ago. This time five goals was not enough as James Rodríguez of Colombia and AS Monaco FC went one better. Neymar pipped Messi to the Bronze Ball as although both had four goals and one assist, the Brazil forward played fewer minutes than his Barcelona club-mate.
A Bayern player did take first place in the voting for the Golden Glove, Neuer named the best goalkeeper. Pogba of France took the Young Player Award won four years ago by Müller.
Golden Ball: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Silver Ball: Thomas Müller (Germany)
Bronze Ball: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
Other nominees: Angel Di María (Argentina), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Mats Hummels (Germany), Toni Kroos (Germany), Phillip Lahm (Germany), James Rodríguez (Colombia), Neymar (Brazil)
Golden Boot: James Rodríguez (Colombia) 6 goals, 2 assists
Silver Boot: Thomas Müller (Germany) 5 goals, 3 assists
Bronze Boot: Neymar (Brazil) 4 goals, 1 assist
Golden Glove: Manuel Neuer (Germany)
Other nominees: Keylor Navas (Costa Rica), Sergio Romero (Argentina)
Young Player Award: Paul Pogba (France)
Other nominees: Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Raphaël Varane (France)
Fair Play Award: Colombia