55 players shortlisted for FIFPro World XI Player Awards


In July and August this year the 45,000 professional footballers belonging to the 42 professional organisations across the world that form FIFPro received voting forms in a secret ballot to nominate their peers for inclusion in their “World XI” - choosing the four defenders, three midfielders, three forwards and goalkeeper they most admire.

It is striking that, out of the 55 nominees, almost all were playing in Italy, Spain and England last season. The English Premiership attracted the most nominees with twenty, followed by the Spanish Primera Division with seventeen and Italy’s Serie A with fifteen. The Bundesliga in Germany generated two nominees, and the French Ligue 1 and Argentines Primera Division also provided one each.

Champions League winner AC Milan heads the list for the most nominations with nine, Manchester United have eight, Barcelona, Chelsea and Real Madrid seven, Valencia, Liverpool, Inter, AS Roma and Bayern Munich two and there is one each from Juventus, Fiorentina, Sevilla, Villareal, Arsenal, West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympique Lyon and Boca Juniors.

Italy leads the way with the most players in the short list with eleven, followed by nine Englishmen, seven from Brazil, six from Spain, four from Argentina, three from Holland, France and Portugal, and Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon each provide one player in the 55.


The 55 player shortlist in full is: (Home country/ Club 2006/2007)

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/ Juventus), Iker Casillas (Spain/ Real Madrid), Petr Cech (Czech Republic/ Chelsea), Nelson de Jesus Silva ‘Dida’ (Brazil/ AC Milan), Edwin van der Sar (Holland/ Manchester United)

Defenders: Éric Abidal (France/ Olympique Lyon), Daniel Alves (Brazil/ Sevilla), Roberto Ayala (Argentina/ Valencia), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy/ Real Madrid), Roberto Carlos da Silva (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Jamie Carragher (England/ Liverpool), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal/ Chelsea), Cristian Chivu (Romania/ AS Roma), Ashley Cole (England/ Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (England/ Manchester United), Philipp Lahm (Germany/ Bayern Munich), Ferreira Lucio (Brazil/Bayern Munich), Paolo Maldini (Italy/ AC Milan), Marco Materazzi (Italy/ Inter), Alessandro Nesta (Italy/ AC Milan), Carles Puyol (Spain/ Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/ Real Madrid), John Terry (England/ Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia/ Manchester United), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy/ Juventus).

Midfielders: David Beckham (England/ Real Madrid), Anderson Deco (Portugal/ Barcelona), Mickaël Essien (Ghana/ Chelsea), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy/ AC Milan), Steven Gerrard (England/ Liverpool), Andrès Iniesta (Spain/ Barcelona), Ricardo Kaká (Brazil/ AC Milan), Frank Lampard (England/ Chelsea), Claude Makélélé (France/ Chelsea), Andrea Pirlo (Italy/ AC Milan), Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina/ Villareal/Boca Juniors), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/ Manchester United), Paul Scholes (England/ Manchester United), Clarence Seedorf (Holland/ AC Milan), Xavi (Spain/ Barcelona).

Forwards: Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria/ Tottenham Hotspur), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/ Chelsea), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon/ Barcelona), Thierry Henry (France/ Arsenal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/ Inter), Filippo Inzaghi (Italy/ AC Milan), Lionel Messi (Argentina/ Barcelona), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Holland/ Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Brazil/ Barcelona), Ronaldo (Brazil/ Real Madrid/ AC Milan), Wayne Rooney (England/ Manchester United), Carlos Tévez (Argentina/ West Ham United), Luca Toni (Italy/ Fiorentina), Francesco Totti (Italy/ AS Roma), David Villa (Spain/ Valencia).
Ronaldinho, FIFPro World Player of the Year in 2005 and in 2006, opened the FIFPro World XI 2007 elections in June: ‘The football world has presented many awards, but to be chosen by your own colleagues really means the most to me. They know what you need to reach the top, they understand the game and if they consider you to be the best, and if they want you to receive this award, then this will give you the greatest satisfaction.’

The final World XI will be announced at 5th October 2007.



Courtesy Fifpro.com http://worldx1.fifpro.org/index.php?mod=one&id=16820

this is really f**ked up, imagine Beckham is being nominated among the top 55

IMAGINE:

why would david beckham be there and CESC FABREGAS is not there. how manybgames did david BECKHAM play last season and how many did he perform in compared to CESC FABREGAS?

maybe they just wanted the MLS people to get happy about something

Ronaldo,henry,iniesta,beckam,etc.R these people wel

even tevez shudnt b there

Really stupid list, sometime i wonder who compiles this list?

What is Ashey cole,Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand,David beckham,Carlos Tévez doing in the list.

Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos on the list why not Pele, Okwaraji and Titus Bramble the list Na wa Oh. they should quickly screen out some names.

players that haven't made lists in the past now have hope, imagine ashley cole or tevez

Even Chrisantus should be on the list

Or maybe Oseni sef ! Shio

Look at all these HATERZ.
The list is shit now because no ARSENAL player is on the 55-man list.
Why don't y'all realise ARSENAL players aint good enough at the world stage.
The only dude good enough at Arsenal has moved to Barcelona . . . . . . . . . .
Dont worry . . . . .Fabregas and Adebayor should make it next year.

Arse-anal fans don't like being confronted with the truth.Cesc is not even a starter for the national team.Is he really better than Elano of City?

Bad belle people dey everywhere

@ I-man,

They are all buncha TWATS.
Some of em are criticising the list because it had Ferdinand and David Beckham.
Blimey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ferdinand won the Premiership and made the all important PFA TEAM of the season.

David Beckham also helped his team win the LA LIGA.
What did Fabregas help his country/club win in 2006-07? They came 4th in the Premiership and crashed out early in the UEFA . . . .
Why would any plonker expect him to make this list?

mukina2:

Bad belle people dey everywhere

Na true o,see as Gunners dey complain about the list

the list is insane

@ I-man,

Let em COMPLAIN.
They can take their case to FIFA if they so wish.
The 55-man list was selected by a poll of 45,000 professional footballers playing in 42 different leagues all over the world.
There was no biased or partial judgements regarding the 55-man list.
Only an IDIOT would think Fabregas was better than SCHOLES, GERRARD, ESSIEN and MAKELELE last season.

%$#$%^^

the list is senseless


let them create more list we are shining damn feels good to be a gunner

jackal,who u calin haterz?its ovious ur d real hater,an arsenal hater.u cant complete a sentence witout mentionin ARSENAL!ur obsesed,go c a shrink!
B T W,even a slowpoke wil concur dat list is shity.i mean wat did henry do last season?or ronaldo?or erm erm. U no now,dont make me tel u.

@ ritchboi,

The list cant be shitty.
Dont u get it?
Football players themselves voted their BEST 11 and 55 players were SHORT-LISTED.
Arsenal players musta voted SCHOLES, BECKHAM, HENRY and ASHLEY COLE.
The thang is . . . . U wankstas didnt do enuff last season to make any list.

Besides . . . . .Ronaldo, Henry all helped their various countries in the world cup.
How can u come here and say they didnt do anything?
Name me any present Arsenal player that did something tangible through out last year.
Lets face it. . . . . . . .Fabregas did ZILCH last season for country/club.
Adebayor? Toure? Denilson? Van Persie?
Forget this argument . . . . . THE LIST IS OKAY.

fabregas did zilch?
I wonda wat iniesta did.

realistically . . .

Becks had every right to be listed, same as Rio who formed a formidable duo with Vidic season past

what the heck is Cashley Cow doing in the list ?

Scholes was without any doubt for me the best Premiership player last season, so its merited

HENRY ?

I[i]f Henry,why not RVP ? . .at least they both got crocked, not forgetting Etoo !
[/i]
Tevez ? do u mean for the last set of matches he played taking West Ham out of relegation he merited a place in there ? or how phenomenal was he for the National team ?

How come Gilberto did not make that list, what of FAB4 ? . . .THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARSENAL TEAM FAR OUTWEIGHED THAT OF SO MANY OTHER PLAYERS LISTED

What is wrong with these GAYNNERS?

Blimey!!!!!!!!! Cashley Cole HELPED his team win FA cup and Carling Cup.
His contributions also helped Chelsea into the last 4 of UEFA champions league plus a decent world cup appearance.

Thierry Henry's contributions last year cannot be questioned.
Gave the ARSES a bit of hope by scoring a SCREAMER against Man United coupled with a fantastic world cup appearance.
He has also helped France in the EURO 2008 qualifiers.

How does Fabregas compare to this? Fab4 cant even get a shirt in SPAIN!

Scumtwats _{*apologies Debosky*} will always be in the opposition

Cashley Cow was bettered at a point in time by Wayne Bridge and we all witnessed that !!! he admiited a loss of form,yes or no ?

and I am trying hard to figure the decency of his appearance at the World Cup ? Bunkum !!!

Henry scores a screamer and gets listed . . . how sick !!! I could count the no of obscure players that scored screamers that were not given a look-in

he helped France ? YES . . .

at least I will drink to that . . .since u wilfully observe on your own volition that he helped the national team as against your harsh criticism of the dude playing for Country in the past

and we all know that FAB4 is a dynamite . . .

Jackal,kindly tel me wat iniesta did 4 club or country dat surpased fabregas,or even beni mc'carthy,or roby keane,or. . . D list is endles!

@ Ritchi-rich,

Why are u directing this question to me?
I didnt write the list . . . .
It seems u dont get this . . .Do you?
44,000 PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS all over the globe participated and the following 55 players notched the highest votes.
It simply means Fabregas, Kolo Toure and Clichy all participated in this poll and voted these players.

Anyways, Iniesta helped his team win the Supercopa de Espana in 2006-07 season.
His contributions to Spain and Barcelona cannot be quantified and he scored important goals as well.
A lot of professional players and fans including ME believe he is a better player than Cesc Fabregas.
How is that hard to figure out?
Dont make me dislodge ur face with ma SLEDGE-HAMMER!!!!!!!!!

jackal,u no 4 a FACT i hav 'dyslexia',so i cudnt undastand errtin u jus typed,but if u jus insinuated INIESTA is a beta playa dan FABREGAS,or had a beta season,den i am absolutely FLABBERGASTED!

You better remain flabbergasted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dont even dare compare Andres Iniesta to Cesc Fabregas.
Iniesta has done so much for Barca/Spain than what Fabregas has done.
Besides, Fabregas cannot even get into the starting XI of his country. He is yet to score for SPAIN.
Iniesta holds a regular shirt in Spain and has scored 4 times!!!!!!!!!!!
At present. . . . Fabregas is better than Andres but throughout last season Iniesta held the 4 ACES.

Hmmm. . .

I actually think Iniesta is underrated.

Similar game to Fabregas, in that school of midfielders
that Barca have produced since Guardiola and includes Xavi
and Albert Celades.

I reckon he would do as good a job in the premiership as Fabregas
but you can never judge how these things pan out.

jackal,u neva cease 2 amaze me,despite d fact fab scored only 4 goals last season,his overal play was exceptional.and he recorded d 2nd highest number of asists,behind ronaldo.he played al 38 games and was very consistent.wat did iniesta do?How many games did he even start?
wel,ur biased coments dont surprise me,but i'l advice u 2 get off arsenals dyk.