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UEFA has announced the top ten footballers playing in Europe from last season, from which the best player of the 2012-2013 season on the old continent will be chosen. The best European footballer will be announced on August 29th, when the draw for the Champions League group stage tournament will take place at the UEFA headquarters in Monaco. As usual, the best footballer will be chosen by representatives of the media from all UEFA member countries. This year, there are even four players from the Champions League-winning team Bayern Munich among the candidates, but there is not a single player from Italy and only two footballers playing in the United Kingdom. These elections are being held for the third time, and their initiator was UEFA president Michel Platini, whose goal was to revive the old European Best Footballer elections, known as the "Ballon d'Or". Currently, the best player in the world is selected in the "Ballon d'Or" elections, but until 2009, this title was only awarded to players playing in Europe. Currently, the "Ballon d'Or" elections are organized by FIFA, and UEFA hosts the best European footballer award ceremony every year. In 2012, the winner was the attacking leader of Barcelona from Argentina, Lionel Messi, and last year, it was the same team's midfielder Andres Iniesta. Top ten UEFA players: Lionel Messi (Argentina) - "Barcelona" Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - Real Madrid Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) - Paris Saint Germain Robin van Persie (Netherlands) - Manchester United Gareth Bale (Wales) - Tottenham Hotspur Robert Lewandowski (Poland) - Borussia Dortmund Thomas Muller (Germany) - Bayern Munich Franck Ribery (France) - Bayern Munich Arjen Robben (Netherlands) - Bayern Munich Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) - Bayern Munich
