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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon admits he would like Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at the Santiago Bernabeu as he looks ahead to the crucial Champions League clash on Tuesday between the two giants...

Los Merengues will be in Turin as they attempt to take firm control of group H and, as always, there are fireworks expected.

Calderon will also be at the Olimpico and he has revealed that Buffon is a player he would like at the Bernabeu, leading to speculation that he will try and make enquries while he is in Italy.

The Italian international will not play as he is injured but this hasn't stopped the chief from showing an interest.

"Buffon is the player of my dreams, he is a legend and I want him at Real," Calderon told Tuttosport.

"He is a Real Madrid player, I also like [Mauro] Camoranesi and, of course, [Alessandro] Del Piero.

"However, we have a world-class 'Keeper in [Iker] Casillas and to be honest we don't really need a replacement in goal.

"I will be in Turin on Tuesday to watch the game. It will be a great day for football. It's a European classic and we are delighted to be playing Juve.

"We want to fight for La Liga and for the Champions League as well as everything else."

Los Merengues have always been keen on Buffon and they have spent good money in Turin in the past such as the Zinedine Zidane signing in 2001.

Reports suggest Juventus will be open to a mega money move if it arrives.

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.
 

Barcelona are intensifying their interest for Coritiba striker Keirrison. Sport says the 19 year-old's agents, who own 80 per cent of his registration, also have Barca defender Henrique on their books. Henrique is currently on-loan at Bayer Leverkusen."It is true that Keirrison will not be in Brazil next season. But there is nothing concrete," conceded Coritiba president Jair Cirino.Keirrison is off contract in April and it's understood Brazilian management company intend to buy his registration in January with the view to selling him to a European club

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar has bid a final farewell to international football with the Netherlands and he insisted that he will not be making any more comebacks.

With the Dutch short on reliable goalkeeping personnel before the World Cup qualification matches against Iceland and Norway, Oranje manager Bert van Marwijk asked van der Sar to consider filling the breach and donning the gloves for two final times before retiring.

The 38 year-old walked away from international football after the Dutch side's Euro 2008 elimination but was happy to provide a sturdy option for van Marwijk in Group Nine. After wracking up a 130th cap and a clean sheet, the Red Devils stopper is content to say goodbye.

He told the press: "I'm happy with this farewell. I knew this would be the last time, so I wanted to finish on a better note than when we lost to Russia at Euro 2008. That has been achieved."

It could have been different for the ex-Fulham man during his international send-off however; a late challenge by him sent a Norwegian attacker sprawling to the turf, and van der Sar admits he was lucky not to concede a spot-kick.

He continued: "The referee could have given Norway a penalty, I hit the Norwegian player with my knee."

Nine points from nine sees the Dutch steaming towards South Africa alreaday, but van der Sar does not anticipate dusting off the gloves for the 2010 showpiece.

Asked whether he would be tempted back for the finals, he said: "Yes - as a tourist."