I think the Balon d'Or final 3 are obvious: World Cup winning MVP, Champions League winning MVP, and Messi ...Ballon d’Or 2014:
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire).
Coach of the Year 2014:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC).
if Sepp Blatter is to be believed, Neuer -- or "Noiner", if you want the FIFA-certified pronunciation -- is not just top 3 for the year, but top 3 of all time ... so surely he's a shoe-in for the first ballon d'or keeper this year?
seriously, though, his performance against Algeria was a Sweeper Keeper Masterclass:
---
the coach award finalists are also obvious (bolded): World Cup winner, and Champions League winner ... I expect the former to pip it ...
I've also highlighted Klinsmann and van Gaal ...
if LvG had had success at club level too, then he'd actually be an outside candidate; however, trouncing the World Champions en route to a World Cup bronze medal won't trump the cards the winners are holding ...
Jürgen's not really in contention, but I wanted to draw attention to the fact that he's cemented the USA as a serious nation on the footballing world map ... it's not that he guided The Von Trapps to a 2nd round Extra Time World Cup exit; it's that the USA, as a nation, were ready to embrace soccer, and he delivered unto them that elusive win against perennial foes Ghana, and followed it up with a rousing, belief-inducing performance against Portugal ... his quality as a manager is not the point; his role in US soccer's wendepunkt year is ...