Friday, 31 October 08, 08:04 PM
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:
Wednesday, 29 October 08, 07:47 PM
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.
Wednesday, 22 October 08, 07:59 PM
The Catalan midfielder has been strongly linked with a move away from the Emirates in the opening weeks of the new campaign in both the English and Spanish media.
While Barça are not keen to make a move without knowing that he would certainly say yes, Cesc sought to ward off any approach by the club by stating that he is still keen to play for the
Gunners.
"Right now I am happy at Arsenal, but I cannot deny that returning to my country to play for Barça would be the realisation of a dream," Sport quote him as saying.
"Last summer I chose to stay in London and at the moment I am sure that it was the right decision and I hope to win trophies here."
Coming from a Barcelona-supporting family in Arenys del Mar, north of the Catalan capital, Cesc still watches the Blaugrana whenever he can and is pleased with what he is seeing this
season.
"The fact is that Barça are producing some fantastic football that is always great to watch," he explained.
Sport believe that if Arsenal fall short again this season then a move by Barça could prove to be too tempting for Cesc, who has stated in the past that the north London club need to
strengthen.
On Top 10 Things To Expect From Real Madrid v Milan