FIFA 2009 World Player of the Year Shortlist

By Ben on November 1, 2009

Who is the best player in the world at the moment? It doesn’t matter what you think; it’s up to the managers. But tell us what you think anyway!

The FIFA World Player of the Year is an association football award given annually to the player who is thought to be the best in the world, based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams. In a voting system based on positional voting, each coach gets three votes, worth five points, three points and one point, and the winners are ordered based on total number of points. The male award has been criticized for focusing mainly on players from the UEFA Champions League and largely ignoring players from the South American Copa Libertadores, which has produced more world club champions than Europe. The international leagues of the remaining confederations are also completely ignored. Alongside the Ballon D’ Or, the FIFA World Player of the Year is the most prestigious individual award available to any player. This year, whoever wins the Ballon D’ Or will most likely win the FIFA World Player of the Year, due to the fact that all the players in the shortlist play professionally for European based clubs. Here is the 23 player shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year.
NOMINEES FOR 2009 FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Player	Nationality	Club	League	Age
Michael Ballack		Chelsea		33
Gianluigi Buffon		Juventus		31
Iker Casillas		Real Madrid		28
Diego		Juventus/Werder Bremen		24
Didier Drogba		Chelsea		31
Michael Essien		Chelsea		26
Samuel Eto’o		Inter/Barcelona		28
Steven Gerrard		Liverpool		29
Thierry Henry		Barcelona		32
Zlatan Ibrahimovic		Barcelona/Inter		28
Andres Iniesta		Barcelona		25
Kaka		Real Madrid/AC Milan		27
Frank Lampard		Chelsea		31
Luis Fabiano		Sevilla		28
Lionel Messi		Barcelona		22
Carles Puyol		Barcelona		31
Franck Ribery		Bayern Munich		26
Cristiano Ronaldo		Real Madrid/Man Utd		24
Wayne Rooney		Manchester United		24
John Terry		Chelsea		28
Fernando Torres		Liverpool		25
David Villa		Valencia		27
Xavi		Barcelona		29