The Shortlist is Out.
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Yes, the shortlist for FIFA World Player of the Year has been released. FIFA's highest individual award will be handed out in Zurich on December 17, 2007. Last year saw Brazil's Marta as the winner of the Women's World Player of the Year while Italy's Fabio Cannavaro came away as the Men's World Player of the Year.
The list, compiled by FIFA, will now be delivered to each of the member associations of FIFA. The head coach and captain of the each national team will then select their top 3 choices for the award, without being allowed to select a player from their own country. The complete men's list contains 30 players while the women's list contains 26 players.
Men's Shortlist:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Rep), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Barcelona, France), Juninho (Lyon, Brazil), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich, Germany), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Rafael Marquez (Barcelona, Mexico), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), John Terry (Chelsea, England), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United, Argentina), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Fernando Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan, France).
Quite an impressive list of talent. But, if I were to bet I would have to go with Kaka as the winner. Even though he did not participate in Brazil's Gold Cup winning side he was very instrumental in last season's Champion's League with AC Milan. AC Milan of course won the competition with a victory over Liverpool in the final. He was the competition's top goal scorer with 10 goals. Although there are so many talented players on this list that cases could be made for many of them to win.
Women's Shortlist:
Nadine Angerer (Germany), Adjoa Bayor (Ghana), Christiane (Brazil), Daniela (Brazil), Lisa de Vanna (Australia), Formiga (Brazil), Christie George (Nigeria), Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (Norway), Duan Han (China), Ariane Hingst (Germany), Jie Li (China), Kristine Lilly (United States), Renate Lingor (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Bente Nordby (Norway), Cathrine Paaske Sorensen (Denmark), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Un Suk Ri (Korea Democratic People's Republic), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Kelly Smith (Arsenal, England), Rebecca Smith (New Zealand), Ane Stangeland Horpestad (Norway), Kerstin Stegemann (Germany), Ingvild Stensland (Norway), Abby Wambach (United States)
Now if I were picking from this also impressive list of talent I would select Kelly Smith. I would pick her mainly because she plays her club football with Arsenal and I was quite impressed with her in the World Cup, but that's just me and I of course have zero input into this process. With the German win in the World Cup that should boost the hopes of all German Ladies on the list but in the end I think Brazil's Marta will win the award once again.
Some interesting tidbits come to light after looking at the lists. All of the players on the men's side all ply their trade in European Leagues with La Liga in Spain and the Premier League in England each providing ten names. Not all of the confederations are represented on the men's side while every confederation on the women's side has at least one name on their list. The two confederations not represented on the men's side are Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC).
The names of the three finalists for each list will be announced in early December.
