The official world XI has been announced by FIFPro and the best team has split fans, pundits, journalists and professionals across the globe. Goal.com reporters from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa got together and voted for their favoured eleven from the nominations provided by FIFPro. Who would have made your dream team?

From the nominations provided by FIFPro, who would have been in your World XI?

Nominees (teams played for last season)

Goalkeepers:
Artur Boruc [Poland/ Celtic]; Gianluigi Buffon [Italy/ Juventus]; Iker Casillas [Spain/ Real Madrid]; Petr Cech [Czech Republic/ Chelsea], Edwin van der Sar [Holland/ Manchester United].

Defenders:
Daniel Alves [Brazil/ Sevilla]; José Bosingwa [Portugal/ FC Porto]; Fabio Cannavaro [Italy/ Real Madrid]; Ricardo Carvalho [Portugal/ Chelsea]; Gaël Clichy [France, Arsenal]; Ashley Cole [England/ Chelsea]; Patrice Evra [France/ Manchester United]; Rio Ferdinand [England/ Manchester United]; Philipp Lahm [Germany/ Bayern Munich]; Ferreira Lucio [Brazil/Bayern Munich]; Paolo Maldini [Italy/ AC Milan]; Alessandro Nesta [Italy/ AC Milan]; Pepe [Portugal/ Real Madrid]; Carles Puyol [Spain/ Barcelona]; Sergio Ramos [Spain/ Real Madrid]; John Terry [England/ Chelsea]; Nemanja Vidic [Serbia/ Manchester United]; Gianluca Zambrotta [Italy/ Barcelona]; Javier Zanetti [Argentina/ Inter]; Yuri Zhirkov [Russia/ CSKA Moscow].

Midfielders:
Deco [Portugal/ Barcelona]; Michael Ballack [Germany/ Chelsea]; Michael Essien [Ghana/ Chelsea]; Gennaro Gattuso [Italy/ AC Milan]; Cesc Fabregas [Spain/ Arsenal]; Steven Gerrard [England/ Liverpool; Andrès Iniesta [Spain/ Barcelona]; Kaká [Brazil/ AC Milan]; Frank Lampard [England/ Chelsea]; Javier Mascherano [Argentina/ Liverpool]; Andrea Pirlo [Italy/ AC Milan]; Franck Ribery [France/ Bayern Munich]; Marcos Senna [Spain/ Villareal]; Wesley Sneijder [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Xavi [Spain/ Barcelona].

Forwards:
Andrei Arshavin [Russia/ Zenit St Petersburg]; Dimitar Berbatov [Bulgaria/ Tottenham Hotspur]; Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast/ Chelsea]; Samuel Eto'o [Cameroon/ Barcelona]; Thierry Henry [France/ Barcelona]; Zlatan Ibrahimovic [Sweden/ Inter]; Lionel Messi [Argentina/ Barcelona]; Ruud van Nistelrooy [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Ronaldinho [Brazil/ Barcelona]; Cristiano Ronaldo [Portugal/ Manchester United]; Wayne Rooney [England/ Manchester United]; Carlos Tévez [Argentina/ Manchester United]; Luca Toni [Italy/ Bayern Munich]; Fernando Torres [Spain/ Liverpool]; David Villa [Spain/ Valencia].



Here is the official World XI according to FIFPro:

A selection of Goal.com's international journalists got together and voted for their own World XI. The weighting from our international office was as follows:

Casillas - 61 per cent of the vote

Ramos - 61%
Ferdinand - 50%
Terry - 45%
Evra - 45%

Xavi - 61%
Gerrard - 45%

Ronaldo - 78%
Ribery - 39%
Messi - 67%

Torres - 45%

Those unlucky not to make Goal.com's World XI were:

Buffon - 17%

Vidic - 33%
Carvalho - 28%

Senna - 33%
Fabregas - 39%
Iniesta - 28%

Ibrahimovic - 39%


Interestingly, the dominant division in Goal.com's world XI was the Premier League.

Premier League: 54%
La Liga: 37%
Bundesliga: 9%

The dominant nationality though was Spanish.

Spanish: 37%
English: 27%
French: 18%
Portuguese: 9%
Argentinian: 9%


We at Goal.com want to know who would have made your World XI! Scribble down your dream team below and hit enter... is it any different to the FIFPro or Goal.com's favoured selection? Do you think either teams made a serious error in omitting Ibrahimovic, Fabregas, or Vidic? Let us know...

Fifa have today revealed the nominations for their World Player of the Year award.

3 players are in the running for the accolade, which is voted for by international captains and managers, with the award winner revealed on January 12 at a ceremony in Zurich.

All of the players listed are currently playing their football in Europe, with the English Premier League heading the nominations with 10 representatives.

Spain’s La Liga has 8 players nominated, while there are just 3 listed from Italy’s Serie A.

Germany’s Bundesliga and the Russian top-flight complete the nominations with one player each.

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently won the FifPro player of the year award, is the current favourite to win the accolade.

However, he can expect heavy pressure from the likes of Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres, Lionel Messi and Kaka, who won last year’s award.

Full list of nominees for the Fifa World Player of the Year award:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Togo), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg, Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, Spain), Deco (Chelsea, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal, Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan, Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea, England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), David Villa (Valencia, Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona, Spain).

Brazilian players have dominated the history of the award with 8 winners since its inception in 1991. Barcelona have been the most successful club, having had 6 winners playing for them when picking up the trophy.

Football returned to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium with an encounter between two classic sides of the Spanish league. The match lived up to expectations and to the achievements of both Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.

Bernd Schuster came up with an offensive line-up. Robben returned to the starting eleven and Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Gago took on midfielder duties. Heinze took Fabio Cannavaro's spot as centre back with Pepe and Marcelo played as left back. Míchel Salgado flanked them on the right wing. Higuaín played as a striker with Raúl due to Ruud van Nistelrooy's suspension.

The first minutes indicated that Real Madrid would end up dominating the match. Sneijder came close from scoring with a 50-metre shot. Five minutes later, Higuaín scored from a cross by Robben, but the goal was disallowed due to a non-existent offside. Athletic also tried their best and left back Balenziaga became their strongest man in attack and Salgado cleared a cross of his that was clearly looking for Llorente inside the box.

The match slowed down and Real Madrid failed to find a clear way to reach Iraoz's goal until Heinze found Sneijder between Athletic's lines and served him the ball. The Dutchman didn't falter in the one-on-one against the Basque keeper and scored from a beautiful crossed shot with his left foot before the 15-minute mark. Bilbao didn't loose face and looked for an equaliser with long passes. Llorente came close to netting a header, but Casillas' incredible reflexes saved the day.

Athletic grew impatient and the Madridistas, guided by an all-powerful Gago and an omnipresent Sneijder, began to hurt them in defence. Higuaín penetrated into Athletic's ranks and, after leaving two defenders behind, passed the ball back to Sneijder, whose subsequent hit one of the posts.

The Whites finally found the way to hurt Bilbao and HIguaín tried to score his team's second strike with a beautiful lobbed shot that wasn't on target. Real Madrid played their best football during thoise minutes. Gago's playmaking skill was latent, Sneijder did what he wanted with the ball and Higuaín dominated inside Athletic's area, as proven by the team's second goal. Sneijder served the ball to Van der Vaart, who in turn passed it with his heel to Raúl, who distracted the defenders before assisting Higuaín to score.

The fans started to relax and to enjoy their team's lead, but a fast, confusing and messy play in which Iraola fell on the ground in pain distracted the team, alowing Etxeberria to defeat Casillas. The Whites' beautiful game gave way to Bilbao's imprecission and straightforward football. Eventually, just before half-time, the Basque's scored again thanks to an unfairly awarded penalty on Llorente.

Real Madrid played much better at the start of the second half. Higuaín had a chance with a crossed shot. Heinze tried to score one minute later, but his shot hit the crossbar. In the end, Higuaín scored the victory goal thanks to a brilliant pass from Gago, who saw his run way back in midfield.

Athletic grew powerless against the Madridistas, who wanted to finish them off with another goal. Guti and Diarra came on for Van der Vaart and Raúl -respectively- to freshen up the team's attack. Llorente came close to scoring an equaliser in the final minutes, but in the end Real Madrid won the game. They haven't lost at the Bernabéu in more then one and a half years...

Lineups

Real Madrid
Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo
Sneijder
Gago
Van der Vaart
Robben
Higuaín
Raúl

Athletic Club
Iraizoz
Iraola
Aitor Ocio
Amorebieta
Balenziaga
Orbaiz
Gurpegi
Susaeta
Yeste
David López
Etxeberria

Injured striker Fernando Torres has turned down the opportunity to watch Liverpool's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid from the luxury of a VIP seat at the Vicente Calderon...

 

A hamstring tear has denied Torres the sensational homecoming that was planned for him by UEFA's Champions League draw.

The 24-year-old, who moved from Atleti to Anfield last year, was forced from the field early in Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium last week, and tests confirmed that he would be out of action for up to 15 days.

Thus, Torres will not face his former team-mates in Wednesday night's blockbuster in the Spanish capital, where he plied his trade for six years after graduating from Atletico's youth system in 2001.

'El Nino' was given the chance to view the game in style, however, as los Rojiblancos offered their former idol a place in the Calderon's VIP section.

But Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told the Daily Mail: "We talked with the doctor and physios, and with the player himself, and we decided it was important for him to stay here and continue with his recovery."

Ewan Macdonald and James Walker-Roberts look back on Matchday 7 of Primera action with an eye on those who made out best - and worst - after the weekend's games...

WINNERS

Paco Chaparro - The most weathered face in Spanish football can finally crack a grin after Betis opened their winning account against Mallorca. A 3-0 home victory silenced the home critics - for now - as Emaná put in a showboating performance. Chaparro's job remains safe - again, for now. Manuel Ruiz de Lopera could, and probably will, swing the axe at any time.

Sporting Gijón - The Asturian side have just managed their first home win in the Primera in a decade, giving the long-suffering fans at the Molinón a chance to celebrate. It was "only" Osasuna, but three points are three points for the side whose time in the Segunda made the Israelites' jaunt in the desert seem like a long weekend.

Unai Emery - The young Basque may have the Primera's lamest haircut but he also has the best debutant record of any Valencia manager, ever. After his side's 4-0 thumping of Numancia he warned that Los Che can improve further yet, which may have weekend opponents Recreativo sucking their thumbs in anticipation.

Andrés Iniesta - Put in a fine performance for Barça away to Athletic Bilbao to cap off a week that also gave him international success. What's more, Barça have now won six in a row, and he's played in every single one of them. Consolation for being left off the Ballon d'Or shortlist, then...

Andrés Palop - The veteran Sevilla goalkeeper was in record breaking mood on Sunday night as he smashed not only the club record for the amount of minutes without conceding in the league but also the number of consecutive clean-sheets. The ex-Valencia stopper has not seen his net bulge for 495 minutes of La Liga action now since Mate Bilic scored way back on matchday 2.

LOSERS

Atlético Madrid - Whilst cross-town rivals Real Madrid are finding every way they can to win matches at the moment Atlético are doing exactly the opposite. Three consecutive league defeats, culminating this weekend with a heartbreaking loss to Los Blancos, and suddenly Atlético find their superb start in tatters and the league leaders a massive ten points ahead.

Osasuna - Los Rojillos might have installed fresh blood at the helm in the form of José Antonio Camacho but it looks like they need more than just a new manager following a disappointing defeat to newly-promoted Sporting Gijón which leaves them second from bottom in La Liga. They hold the unfortunate stat of being the only club in the top-flight without a win to their name and if that doesn't change sooner rather than later more heads will surely roll.

Clos Gomez - Sergio Agüero and Wesley Sneijder played second fiddle to the man in black at the Madrid derby as he well and truly stole the show with his antics on Saturday night. Two disallowed goals, two very debatable sendings-off and an overall poor handling of the game saw him grab the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Racing Santander/Deportivo La Coruña - One side winless away from home and the other winless at home it was inevitable that the spell would be broken as they clashed on Sunday, or would it? Unfortunately for Miguel Ángel Lotina and Juan Ramón López Muñiz none of their strikers could hit a barn door from ten paces at the moment and with 9 goals between them so far it is fair to say that David Villa will not exactly be quaking in his boots at their respective Pichichi prospects.

Numancia - Numancia grabbed all the headlines on the opening day as they shocked Barcelona but since then they have obtained just a point and currently prop up the table after seven matches. A four nil defeat to Valencia was harsh but the reality is that in this league hard work alone isn't enough and unless they start to score more they will find themselves back in Segunda.

Manchester United have joined Real Madrid in the chase to sign Brazilian starlet Douglas Costa from Grêmio at the end of the current season.

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he is interested in the 18-year-old attacking midfielder and indicated that he is ready to weigh up making a move for the player.

Madrid have been watching Costa for over a year, according to Marca, but have yet to make anything official because they are keen for him to continue developing at his current club.

With United now joining the chase though, that could move the situation along and Ferguson will certainly be keen not to miss out.

"He is a player that we like and does seem to be very interesting," the Spanish paper quotes the Scottish manager as saying.

Costa has been compared to Ronaldinho and Robinho by pundits in Brazil thanks to his speed, creativity and mental strength and will no doubt attract more suitors if his departure looks set to happen.

Ferguson would be keen to win the race over Madrid after the Spanish club's unsettling move quest for Cristiano Ronaldo last summer angered him.

Ewan Macdonald picks out the best and brightest from the seventh weekend of Liga action...

As always, more players impressed than there were places available in our team of the week, but nonetheless eleven star performers have been hand-picked to line up in Goal.com's best eleven.

A few teams aside, it was not a matchday for goalscorers. Only two sides managed more than two goals while fully eight didn't hit the back of the net at all. Of course that meant that there were no shortage of goalkeepers keeping clean sheets, but only one could make the line-up.

This week our excellent eleven lines up in something of a 4-4-1-1 formation with attacking wingers:

Diego López
Damiá - Pepe - Prieto - Adriano
Simão - Emaná - Aurelio - Iniesta
                Mata
Villa

Goalkeeper

Diego López (Villarreal): Another clean sheet for the current 'Zamora', and one that came complete with a penalty save. All those years on the bench at Real Madrid did him no harm whatsoever.

Defenders

Damiá Abella (Real Betis): Damiá actually played more of a midfield role for the Béticos during their 3-0 thrashing of Mallorca, but he's known as a right-back and he was certainly not shy about dropping back when it mattered. A mature showing.

Pepe (Real Madrid): Amidst difficult circumstances the Portuguese kept Kun Agüero shackled well for most of the heated derbi.

David Prieto (Sevilla): A perfect performance from the local boy made good, who is proving that he is well and truly a late bloomer worth watching.

Adriano (Sevilla): A roving, rushing left-back who wasn't shy about getting among the goals at Almería to preserve his side's great run of form.

Midfielders

Simão Sabrosa (Atlético Madrid): Changed the game for the rojiblancos when he came on and netted the equaliser in the Madrid clásico. An attacking substitution of the best sort.

Achille Emaná (Real Betis): Emaná's best performance in a verdiblanco shirt by far, and one of the best individual showings of the entire matchday. A masterful showing capped off by a late goal.

Mehmet Aurelio (Real Betis): Kept Mallorca's ineffectual midfield at bay and even got among the assists. Like Emaná, that was probably his best performance yet for his new side.

Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona): Started on the right side of attack but drifted around as the game went on, and to good effect, too. Although he didn't manage to provide an assist he was still his usual, effervescent self for the blaugrana.

Juan Mata (Valencia): Along with David Villa he creates a superb attacking double-act. Real Madrid may regret having let him go as he goes from strength to strength.

Striker

David Villa (Valencia): Superlatives are wasted on Villa, who remains, at this moment in time, the best striker in the country. It was 'only' Numancia but he still got among the goals and the action in convincing fashion.

Honourable Mentions

Record-breaking stopper Andrés Palop put in a great showing for Sevilla and only just missed the cut, while Gerard Piqué had one of his better performances for Barcelona at centre-back. Gonzalo and Godín of Villarreal were also a classy pairing.

Further up the pitch Sergio García had a good game for Betis, while Málaga's Eliseu was a key figure in his side's comeback against Getafe. Garmendia was one of the few threats for Athletic versus Barça, while substitute Camuñas' service for Recre deserved more than 1-1 draw against Valladolid (for whom Víctor excelled.) Medhi Lacen played a calm game for Racing, and Bilic was a positive influence for Sporting.

Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid are amongst the major European clubs eyeing the signing of France starlet Karim Benzema, according to the player’s agent.

The Lyon striker has followed up from an outstanding performance in Ligue 1 last season to start the current campaign strongly after what was a disappointing Euro 2008 tournament for him and his nation.

And according to his agent, Benzema is being chased by three of the world’s biggest clubs, with many French football analysts predicting this season will be the 20-year-old’s last in France.

United already have an array of attacking talent at their disposal with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez plying their trade at Old Trafford.

However, the future of Tevez has came under severe scrutiny in recent weeks with the Argentinean still not secured on a permanent contract, with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson having reportedly eyed Benzema as an option last summer.

And Benzema’s agent has said there are also other top clubs eyeing his client’s signature.

“Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United are not the only clubs following Karim because all the big European clubs are,” Djaziri said to France-Football.

“Our contacts with the clubs are constant and our contacts did not start last year but since Karim is 16! But we are transparent with Lyon on every point and they are aware of everything happening.”

Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has requested for his club to launch an appeal to have his red card against Atlético Madrid overturned.

Van Nistelrooy struck Real Madrid’s opening goal after just half a minute into the derbi clash against Atlético at the weekend, before going on to net a second which appeared to be wrongfully disallowed by the referee.

However, that was the last action of his run-in with the match official as, five minutes before the break, he was given his marching orders after a crude sliding challenge on Maniche.

Still, the Dutchman believes that the offense only warranted a yellow card and, as such, he has personally requested that the club launch a formal appeal to the Competition Committee to have the red card rescinded in order to play against Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabéu next weekend.

Los Merengues went on to beat Atleti 1-2 through a Gonzalo Higuaín penalty six minutes into injury time after van Nistelrooy’s opener was cancelled out by Simão’s 90^th minute equaliser.

After being out for two weeks with a hamstring injury the Dutch midefielder is in the squad of 18 for the trip to Italy to face Juventus in the Champions League. The Spanish champions, then, have a better time of it than Juve as far as injuries are concerned...

This week see argubly the most anticipated group match of this seasons Champions League as Real Madrid travel to Turin to face Juventus, and Madrid have been boosted by the return of Robben to their injury-hit side.

With Guti and Diarra missing from midfield and Miguel Torres also out, Robben's return will give Schuster another option as he selects his side to take on the old lady of Italian football. The midfielder is notoriously known as the 'The Glass Man' by the Spanish media in relation to his injury-proneness, and has struggled to stay fit for an extended period since joining from Chelsea in 2007. But when he does play he has been vital to the team and the German Coach will be delighted to have him back available for selection.

Christoph Metzelder is also included in the squad after being excluded from Real's 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday evening. Missing from the squad for technical reasons are Michel Sagado and Javier Saviola.

Full Madrid squad to face Juventus:
Casillas, Dudek, Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Metzelder, Heinze, Marcelo, Javi Garcia, Drenthe, De la Red, Gago, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Higuaín, Robben, Van Nistelrooy, Raul.