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ZURICH, Switzerland -- Lionel Messi, Franck Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Neymar are among 23 candidates on the short list for the Ballon dOr announced by FIFA on Tuesday. Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. Neymar joined Messi at Barcelona this season after a move from Santos in his native Brazil, while Welshman Bale moved to Real Madrid from Tottenham in September for 100 million euros, the richest transfer in football history. Another nominee was Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, who missed the start of the 2013-14 Premier League season while serving a 10-game suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League game in April. The Ballon dOr, or world player of the year, winner will be announced Jan. 13 in Zurich. Two now-retired managers -- Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and Bayerns Jupp Heynckes -- are among 10 nominees for FIFAs coach of the year award. ------ Ballon dOr nominees (alphabetical order, nationalities): Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribery (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain). Coach of the year nominees (nationalities, teams): Carlo Ancelotti (Italy, Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid), Rafael Benitez (Spain, Chelsea/Napoli), Antonio Conte (Italy, Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain, Spain national team), Alex Ferguson (Scotland, Manchester United, retired), Jupp Heynckes (Germany, Bayern Munich, retired), Juergen Klopp (Germany, Borussia Dortmund), Jose Mourinho (Portugal, Real Madrid/Chelsea), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil, Brazil national team), Arsene Wenger (France, Arsenal). Miralem Pjanic Jersey .com) - Nino Williams posted 18 points and seven rebounds, as Kansas State edged No. Blaise Matuidi Jersey . Of course that doesnt mean hes ignoring it. Thats actually rather impossible given the behind-the-scenes access to the Toronto Maple Leafs the network is getting. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Gianl … Jersey/.S. - Nova Scotias Mary Fay guaranteed at least one more match and a shot at the Canadian junior curling championships final on home ice. Sami Khedira Jersey .J. -- The New Jersey Devils are so bad in shootouts, coach Pete DeBoer doesnt mind seeing his team take chances in the five-minute overtime. Mattia Perin Jersey . -- Jerome Williams glanced at Philadelphias schedule and realized he would be facing the Oakland Athletics yet again, with another new team.They took away her ‘C, but they didnt take away her heart. Hayley Wickenheiser, the greatest womens hockey player ever, stole the show as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in a thrilling nail-biter preliminary game in Sochi Wednesday. Wickenheiser set up Canadas first goal of the game on a nifty pass to Meghan Agosta-Marciano and then scored her second goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics – the 18th of her Olympic career. Not only that, the 35-year-old Wickenheiser played a strong defensive game, too, shutting down Team USAs top scorers. It is no coincidence that in the dying seconds of the game, with the United States on the power play and its goalie on the bench in favour of an extra skater, Wickenheiser was one of the four Canadian skaters on the ice in pure defensive mode. The victory for Canada means it avoids a tough semifinal matchup against the pesky Finnish squad. Canada defeated Finland 3-0 earlier in the tournament, but didnt score until 9:27 of the third period. The Finns are capable of pulling off an upset in this years Olympics. Wickenheiser, a two-time Olympic MVP, had been the captain of the Canadas national team, but it was announced by Hockey Canada prior to the Olympics that Caroline Ouellette would be the captain in Sochi. Wickenheiser was named an alternate captain. There had even been some chatter leading up to the Games she might be cut from the team. Given how well she has played in Sochi, that would have been a dreadful mistake. Its a team game For Wickenheiser, it is all about the team. “Were so close,” she said of the bitter rivalry with the United States. “Sometimes it just comes down to the team that gets a break or has more energy. I liked the energy level and determination in our game [today].” On snapping the four-game losing streak to Team USA, Wickenheiser said, “Its a confidence booster. [Coach] Kevin Dineen has had some time to prepare for this game. He also needed time to get to know the players in our room; the strengths and weaknesses. We have all the confidence in him.” So, with the victory over the United States, is it advantage Canada moving into the medal round? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Bragging rights Certainly Canada has bragging rights following its win over Team USA. However, history has shown what happens leading up to the Games doesnt necessarily have anything to do with who wins the gold medal. In 2002, Team USA had beaten Canada 10 times in a row, but the Canadians shocked the Americans with a 3-2 victory in the gold-medal game at Salt Lake City. It is also worth noting prior to the last tthree Olympic Games, the United States won the world championship only to have Canada rebound to take gold at the Olympics.dddddddddddd The United States certainly had a mental edge over Canada entering the game – the first time the teams had met in the preliminary round since 1998 – thanks to four straight victories over their rivals in a six-game exhibition series leading up to the Olympic Games. In 1998 in Nagano, Japan, Team USA beat Canada 7-4 in the preliminary round and 3-1 in the gold-medal game. At the very least, Canada now knows it can skate with and beat the powerful United States club. Doing it twice in a row will not be easy. “It felt so good,” said winning goalie Charline Labonte. “We have been struggling a bit the past couple of games against them. We have worked really hard to readjust and become a better team. They came out really strong, as expected, so I am really glad we came up with the win.” American scoring ace Amanda Kessel was understandably dissatisfied with the final result. "It hurts," Kessel said. "Every game matters. They didnt get to see how we can play." A lot has been made of the fact the two teams have an intense dislike for one another – as indicated by the two line brawls in the final few exhibition games leading up to the Olympics – and it was fully on display in Wednesdays preliminary match. Despite the fact bodychecking is illegal in womens hockey, players from both teams rode that fine line between handing out jarring hits, just hard and incidental enough so as not to cause Finnish referee Anna Eskola to penalize them. In that regard, Eskola did a fine job in allowing the game to be physical without getting goofy. "Both teams were aggressive," said American forward Hilary Knight. Youll get our top game when we play one another and thats a great thing. We are both good teams and we are competitive." Canada matched USAs speed and demonstrated a penchant for driving hard to the net from start to finish. If there was a concern for Canada it was the ineffectiveness of its power play. Canada entered the third period a mere 1-for-10 with the man advantage throughout the tournament. It was zero-for-three in the first 40 minutes. However, Agosta-Marciano accepted a perfectly-placed pass from Wickenheiser and scored with Americas Brianna Decker in the penalty box to tie the game 1-1 with a much-needed power-play marker. Decker had been sent off for tripping Wickenheiser. The quarter-finals will be played Saturday and Canada will play in the semifinal Monday. 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