Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer are nominated for the end of the year awards

France Football has announced the shortlist for various year-end awards and some familiar faces made the list. These awards include the Ballon d’Or and Ballon d’Or Feminin, presented to the best male and female player in the world respectively, the Yachine Trophy, presented to the best goalkeeper in the world, and the Kopa Trophy, presented to the best young player in the world.

Among the final 30 players named to the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or is Bayern Munich’s own Robert Lewandowski. The Polish hit-man scored 40 goals last season in all competitions as Bayern won the Double. He also secured his fourth kicker Torjägerkanone (Bundesliga golden-boot title) in his career. He has started this season even hotter. No one in all of Europe has scored as many goals as Lewy has this season, reaching double digits in the first six matches. Overall, Lewandowski has 39 goals this calendar year, 34 in a Bayern jersey, and five for Poland.

Lewandowski isn’t the only Bayern man to make the shortlist for one of the awards. Captain Manuel Neuer is nominated for the Yachine Trophy for the best goalkeeper. Neuer was back to full health in 2019 and didn’t show any signs of slowing down. He captained his team to a Double while playing his normal role as a sweeper keeper. He also has fought for and kept his spot as the number one keeper for Germany, where he is normally wearing the captain’s armband.

Interestingly enough, his national-team teammate turned recent rival, Marc-André Ter Stegen is also up for not only the Yachine Trophy but also for the Ballon d’Or. After being the heir apparent to Germany’s number one for quite some time, Ter Stegen has recently shown his displeasure of being behind Neuer. The Mönchengladbach native led Barcelona to another La Liga title and a semi-final spot in the Champions League last season.

Another familiar name on the shortlist for the Kopa Trophy for the best young player is Leverkusen starlet and Bayern Munich linked Kai Havertz. Havertz had a great year for Bayer Leverkusen. He scored 20 goals in all competitions for his club, including 17 goals in the Bundesliga, which was tied with Marco Reus for most goals by a German. Havertz also scored his first senior international goal in five appearances for Germany.

Ter Stegen isn’t the only German still in the running for a Ballon d’Or. Dzsenifer Marozsán made the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or Femenin. The Hungarian-born German international midfielder helped her club, Olympique Lyonnais, win the Champions League last season. She was voted Germany’s Female Player of the Year for the third consecutive time this year.

We wish everyone the best of luck as the lists gets trimmed even more. Lewandowski and the others all deserve to be honored for what they have done this year. It would also be refreshing to see some new faces in the top three players for the Ballon d’Or, and not the same two players who normally competes for the title.