Football Corner

The FIFA World Player Of The Year nominees have been announced and the nominees include four English players. The English players are Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, Frank Lampard of Chelsea, David Beckham of Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney of Manchester United. The list also includes last years winner Ronaldinho and Juventus maestro Pavel Nedved. Four African players appear, but only one Argentine was seen as worthy of making the list.

Complete shortlist of male nominees: Adriano (Inter), Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich), David Beckham (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Cafu (AC Milan), Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), Deco (Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus), Kaka (AC Milan), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton), Raul (Real Madrid), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid), Robinho (Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid).

No real surprises although I would of thought Barcelona's Mexcican defender come midfielder Rafeal Marquez would of been worthy of making the list. I'm not to sure on who will win it but I firmly believe that Inter Milan's Adriano would be one of the favourites along with last years winner Ronaldinho. The team with the most players shortlisted is Real Madrid and I find that hard to believe because they have not been playing well in the last two years or so and yet they still manage to get six players listed for the FIFA World Player Of The Year award.