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...

Following his outburst at the weekend, Sergio Ramos’ long term future at Real Madrid could be in jeopardy as the club reconsiders his status within the squad.

The rightback stirred up a controversy at the weekend when he revealed during an interview that he is currently unhappy with his football at Real Madrid due to coach Bernd Schuster’s playing system.

Although the player and the coach have ironed out their differences and made their peace, it appears that the Los Blancos hierarchy are not quite done with the issue.

According to Radio Marca, the first action that the club have taken is to suspend all on-going negotiations to offer Sergio Ramos a life contract at the Bernabéu. The Madrid board had promised the player the same type of deal offered to the likes of Casillas, Guti and Raúl and an agreement was supposed to be signed immediately after the close of the summer transfer market back in August.

The arrangement, however, failed to materialize and talks resumed between the two parties but it looks as though the deal could be off completely now following events at the weekend.

It is also believed that Madrid have removed the ‘indispensable’ tag from the player’s squad status. The club were vehemently adamant in the past that Ramos is not for sale at any price but they are now reportedly willing to sit down and listen to offers. And they are even ready to start taking bids as early as the winter transfer window.

Finally, the 22 year old defender’s agent and brother, René Ramos held an emergency meeting with the club board on Tuesday and it is alleged that one of the key topics of discussion is the player’s possible departure to Serie A giants, AC Milan.

Michel Salgado has revealed that Sergio Ramos has asked for the Real Madrid squad to forgive him for his outburst last week and hopes that he can return to action soon.

The veteran defender was named in Bernd Schuster's team at the weekend against Athletic after Ramos complained about his role in the side and said that he was not enjoying himself.

While that did not go down well, Salgado told Marca that his team-mate has asked to be forgiven and that the players have now put the incident behind them.

"He has asked everyone at the club to forgive him. Sergio knows that he has made a mistake, but the matter is already sorted out," he explained.

"Sergio was affected by it because he knows it was an error. He is an important player in the squad. We need him at his best both physically and mentally. We also need the happiness he brings."

Salgado then refused to join Madrid's criticism of referees after Predrag Mijatovic stated that he felt there is a conspiracy against the club after the Athletic encounter.

"It was just a moment when he was heated up, nothing more. But every now and then it is good to let off steam," he continued.

"At the end of the season mistakes have been made in favour of everyone. It is true that we have had things go against us in the first few weeks of the season, but I have complete faith in the officials."

While Ramos had to watch from the bench, Salgado enjoyed playing on Sunday and hopes that his performance was good enough to earn him another chance soon.

"I enjoy each game that I play in the Bernabéu and I wear the shirt. I rally enjoyed being able to play again and to remind the fans and the coach that I am here," he added.

Milan are back on the hunt for Real Madrid stopper Sergio Ramos, according to Radio Marca...

The Spanish international is on the Rossoneri's Christmas wish list and he may arrive sooner rather than later according to the very latest reports coming from Iberia.

There has been plenty of hype surrounding Ramos' future at Los Merengues under Bernd Schuster and, although the press in Spain have been speaking of peace between coach and player, Radio Marca has other ideas.

Marca claim Ramos' brother and agent is meeting with Real Madrid officials to talk about a possible move to the club most interested in the defender, in this case it's Milan.

The Spanish stopper is looking for a new deal at the Bernabeu but it doesn't seem coming as the club are not willing to give the player what he wants in terms of a better wage package.

Reports suggest Ramos is becoming fed up of chasing the club over his future and, with Milan lying in wait, he may decide to pack his bags and move to San Siro.

Ramos would be an ideal transfer for Milan as he is only 22 and the Rossoneri will have no problem in accomodating his salary expectations. He would also be a replacement for the injury prone Alessandro Nesta as he can play in any position at the back.

Il Diavolo have always shown an interest and they are expected to pounce as early as the January transfer window.

Real Madrid 3-2 Athletic Bilbao

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...

Arjen Robben does not think that Real Madrid should worry about losing to Juventus because they can go back to the top of the group by defeating the Italians in two weeks.

Los Merengues were beaten on Tuesday evening and were leap-frogged at the top of Group H by their victors after Alessandro del Piero and Amauri scored for the hosts.

Despite the reverse, Robben is unconcerned and felt that Madrid were always likely to struggle in Turin but is already looking forward to the second meeting between the sides in a fortnight.

"It is always difficult to play against Italian teams away from home, although I think in the second half we played better than we did in the first and could have drawn," the Dutchman said.

"On a personal level I am happy and now want a run without injuries and to recover my confidence."

Robben was pleased to have been given a chance to play again and now hopes that Bernd Schuster gives him a regular run in the team after recovering from his latest setback.

"In two weeks we play Juventus at home and if we win we will go back to the top again, so nothing too serious has happened," he continued.

"It was good for me to play this game, but Schuster did not want me to start. It was important for me to play again and not to suffer any problems. Losing is nothing special."

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.

Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe came off the bench last night and won his team a last gasp penalty in the last thirty seconds of the game. Speaking to the press today, the midfielder highlighted his contribution, and also looked forward to the next Champions League clash in Turin…

It was Royston Drenthe's turn this weekend to give the post-training player conference, and the winger was full of smiles after last night's thrilling derbi at the Vicente Calderon.  "Winning a penalty is always great," he began, "We were up the entire match and it was a real downer when they equalized."
 
A journalist poked the issue about it being an unfair penalty, but the Dutchman simply chuckled off any doubts, "It was a penalty. Absolutely," he boomed. Drenthe was then asked whether or not he would have liked to convert it, but the midfielder was glad he did not. "I was so thrilled to have provoked it but I wasn't prepared to take it, not under that pressure," he confessed.
 
The talk was then switched over to the highly anticipated fixture against Juventus, but Drenthe did not make any bets. "It will be a difficult match, they are a great team and want to do well in the Champions League after missing out for so long.  But, we have a good team and will do whatever it takes to win out there," he concluded.
 
Despite his powerful performances, it remains highly unlikely that Drenthe will take the field in Turin, particularly due to the return of his compatriot Arjen Robben to the starting lineup.

The Spanish giants are keeping tabs on Hernanes and Dentinho, two promising youngsters who are set to become hot property.

No other clubs in the world quite have the penchant for picking up South American talent quite like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Now it seems that these two young Brazilian protégés are coveted by both, and it could lead to fireworks.

Hernanes is a Sao Paulo midfielder who was on the verge of joining Pep Guardiola's Camp Nou revolution in the summer, and only the high demands of his club ended Barcelona’s interest. However, he is still on the radar of the Catalan giants, and there are murmurs that a deal may soon be resurrected.

Madrid and Calderon are lurking however, should any proposed move break down. But they are favourites to land Dentinho, who is the bright young hope of Corinthians. The striker is just 19 years old, and although he is on the radar of clubs in England and Italy, it is Real who have made the first moves to secure his signature. They have suggested an asking price, and even arranged representatives to meet with Corinthians in the hope of reaching an agreement. Watch the space for further updates.