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FIFA Announces 23 Finalists for Ballon d'Or
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:23 am
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:23 am
FIFA have announced their 23-man shortlist for the 2012 Ballon D’Or.
As expected, the Spanish national team and La Liga almost completely dominate.
FIFA will whittle down this shortlist to just three names at the end of November and the winner will be announced on January 7, 2013 at a Gala event in Zurich.
The list below will be voted on by 209 coaches and captains of national teams across the globe and by 49 journalists from the French magazine France Football that originally created the Ballon d’Or.
Will Lionel Messi win it for a fourth time? Will Cristiano Ronaldo be sad if he fails to secure the prize? Which one of the Spanish national team deserves it the most: Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas or Sergio Ramos?
Or should it go to an outsider like Radamel Falcao, Andrea Pirlo or Neymar? Have your say in the poll and comments below.
As for the breakdown of the list, France Football point out that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the most represented of the clubs with six and 5 players respectively.
Champions of Europe Chelsea have one player included, Didier Drogba, who is no longer at the club. And only 12 of the players included last year made it to this season’s list.
Interesting mix of names there...
Who do you think shouldn't be on that list? Who do you think got left off that should've been on?
And is it Messi vs. The Field?
As expected, the Spanish national team and La Liga almost completely dominate.
FIFA will whittle down this shortlist to just three names at the end of November and the winner will be announced on January 7, 2013 at a Gala event in Zurich.
The list below will be voted on by 209 coaches and captains of national teams across the globe and by 49 journalists from the French magazine France Football that originally created the Ballon d’Or.
Will Lionel Messi win it for a fourth time? Will Cristiano Ronaldo be sad if he fails to secure the prize? Which one of the Spanish national team deserves it the most: Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas or Sergio Ramos?
Or should it go to an outsider like Radamel Falcao, Andrea Pirlo or Neymar? Have your say in the poll and comments below.
As for the breakdown of the list, France Football point out that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the most represented of the clubs with six and 5 players respectively.
Champions of Europe Chelsea have one player included, Didier Drogba, who is no longer at the club. And only 12 of the players included last year made it to this season’s list.
quote:
Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Manchester City)
Mario Balotelli (Italy, Manchester City)
Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus)
Sergio Busquets (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea and Shanghai Shenhua)
Radamel Falcao (Colombia, Atletico Madrid)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, AC Milan and Paris-SG)
Andrés Iniesta (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich)
Neymar (Brazil, Santos)
Mesut Özil (Germany, Real Madrid)
Gerard Piqué (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy, Juventus)
Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid)
Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Manchester City)
Robin van Persie (Holland, Arsenal and Manchester United)
Xabi Alonso (Spain, Real Madrid)
Xavi Hernandez (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Interesting mix of names there...
Who do you think shouldn't be on that list? Who do you think got left off that should've been on?
And is it Messi vs. The Field?
This post was edited on 10/29/12 at 9:25 am
9
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:27 am to WarSlamEagle
Falcao has an outside shot due to his club's unbeaten streak IMO (and the fact that he's basically the reason why)
Do you have a link to the poll mentioned?
Do you have a link to the poll mentioned?
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:29 am to Jumbeauxlaya
Balotelli is the one that jumps off the page as undeserving in my opinion...
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:35 am to TFTC
quote:
Balotelli is the one that jumps off the page as undeserving in my opinion...
The only support I've read for Balotelli basically boiled down to two or three matches, namely the Euro semi and getting the assist on Aguero's title-winner. Pretty weak finalist IMO.
I would've gone with a guy like Gomez over Swag.
Someone made a case for Nando on Twitter. Interesting.
This post was edited on 10/29/12 at 9:37 am
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:45 am to WarSlamEagle
No Grant Holt. No care.
But seriously I think this is Messi's to lose yet again
But seriously I think this is Messi's to lose yet again
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:49 am to WarSlamEagle
quote:
Balotelli is the one that jumps off the page as undeserving in my opinion
This; there are a few others that i would think are easily eliminated but sometimes their recognition is good.
I wouldn't have included Sergio Busquets or Benzema but hardly have any unbiased names to replace them with.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:50 am to WarSlamEagle
quote:
The only support I've read for Balotelli basically boiled down to two or three matches, namely the Euro semi and getting the assist on Aguero's title-winner. Pretty weak finalist IMO.
Not much worse than Didier Drogba's inclusion
Posted on 10/29/12 at 9:55 am to WarSlamEagle
quote:
Mario Balotelli, Karim Benzema, Sergio Busquets, Didier Drogba
None of these should be on the list. Ribery deserves to make the cut considering his form with Bayern. There are couple other defenders I can think of that are more deserving than the quoted players, but defenders never get any love for this award.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 10:40 am to lesismeaurx
I would have liked to see Marco Reus in that list.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 10:52 am to tsmi136
quote:
I would have liked to see Marco Reus in that list.
Slow down there buddy, he's great but not quite there yet.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:06 am to WarSlamEagle
I think you had a typo or something in there...
I don't see Chris Wondolowski
I don't see Chris Wondolowski
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:07 am to SuperSoakher
Ronaldo and Messi are the only real candidates and I'd give it to Ronaldo. Beat Messi in La Liga and led his team to the semis of Europe only to lose the lottery. Of course neither one of them are even the best player in Europe so I don't know if they can be the best in the world. 
Balotelli and Pique are the worst on that list imo.
Balotelli is the 4th best striker on his own team.
Pique missed a lot of time, was regularly not selected, and was in poor form when he did play.
Balotelli and Pique are the worst on that list imo.
Balotelli is the 4th best striker on his own team.
Pique missed a lot of time, was regularly not selected, and was in poor form when he did play.
This post was edited on 10/29/12 at 11:09 am
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:17 am to SuperSoakher
Reus is more deserving than Balotelli
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:20 am to hendersonshands
I'd go with Messi... 50 league goals and 73 total is impressive...
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:22 am to hendersonshands
quote:
Reus is more deserving than Balotelli
Definitely... He was the german player of the year in 2012... I would think that would qualify you for the short list...
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:33 am to RandySavage
quote:
Of course neither one of them are even the best player in Europe so I don't know if they can be the best in the world
You're kidding....right?
Who's better?
Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:53 am to TFTC
quote:
Balotelli is the one that jumps off the page as undeserving in my opinion...
This. Neymar seems quite a bit premature as well (to me anyway)...
Posted on 10/29/12 at 12:05 pm to InThroughTheOutDore
No Alan Gordon, no care.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 12:10 pm to InThroughTheOutDore
quote:
Neymar seems quite a bit premature as well
No way. The dude had an awesome Olympics and is tearing up the Brazilian league. He carries Brazil internationally as of late too. He is usually the best player on the field when he plays.
Posted on 10/29/12 at 12:15 pm to WarSlamEagle
No mention of RvP in the 3rd spot? Probably has a solid shot as well.
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