The Fifa Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual honour in the world of football and it will be awarded for the fifth time on the 12th of January. The forerunners for the award are World Cup winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, last season's Champions League top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and World Cup 2014 golden ball winner Lionel Messi.
It was Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo who won the award last year but he is still behind his Argentine rival Lionel Messi who bagged the award for the first three years since its inception. However Ronaldo's main rival for the award this time is not the diminutive Barcelona man but Germany's first choice keeper Manuel Neuer who's antics in the illustrious tournament last year helped Germany in being crowned World Champions and his national team coach Joachim Low has claimed that it will be a disappointment should his star goalkeeper not win the award.
"Everything other than Neuer winning the Ballon d'Or would be very disappointing," Low was quoted as saying by Bild.
"Manuel has given the goalkeeping game an entirely new dimension in the past few years. He's been a goalkeeper like no-one else.
"He is an incredible personality, both on and off the pitch. He showed the world his extraordinary quality during the World Cup."
Opinions remain divided as to who was the standout player last year and whereas many have granted their support to the Bayern Munich man, Real Madrid legend Luis Figo believes it is his compatriot who deserves to win.
"It's hard to choose between truffles and caviar," he said referring to Messi and Ronaldo.
"But for me it has to be Cristiano. He’s had a fantastic year all the way through for Real."
Regarding Neuer's case, he said: "I know Germany won the World Cup and I understand there are those who think Neuer, who is such a great keeper and was a big part of their success, should win it."
Just like every year captains and coaches of national teams will be allowed to vote for a winner whereas journalists will also have their say. Apart from the Fifa Ballon d'Or award which will be presented to the deserved winner on Monday, the year's best coach as well as the Fifa FIFPro World XI will be revealed along with the Puskas Award which is given to the scorer of the most beautiful goal in the year.
Where to watch the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or gala live on January 12, 2015
WHEN: From 9:30am PST / 12:30pm ET / 17:30 GMT (On another timezone? Click here)
WHERE: Check the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or page for live stream buttons (clickable moments before kick-off)
*Live streaming geo-restrictions apply for the following 25 countries across the globe (if you are located in these countries, the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony will only be accessible on TV):
• USA
• Algeria
• Bahrain
• Comoros
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• France
• Iran
• Iraq
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Libya
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Syria
• Tunisia
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen
