Ballon d'Or Nominees

Most notable perhaps are the absences of AC Milan's Ronaldinho and Barcelona forward Thierry Henry, with the duo both judged on their relatively disappointing season at Camp Nou and internationally.

Ronaldinho endured a torrid season in Barcelona last term, suffering from injury and a loss form, and thus the Brazil international will not have the opportunity to add to the award he won in 2005.

"It's normal, I did not play much in the last season," Ronaldinho told French TV channel TF1.

Similarly, Henry had a difficult first season in Spain following his move from Arsenal, and France were also eliminated from Euro 2008 at the first-round, and so he misses out on the shortlist for the first time since 1999.

They are not the only big-name omissions, with 2006 and 2004 winners Andriy Shevchenko and Fabio Cannavaro both missing, and clearly the lists' reduced size of 30 from 50 players is taking effect.

Unsurprisingly, European Championship winners Spain boast seven players on the list, including Liverpool sensation Fernando Torres and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas, while Brazil have just one player, Kaka, of their own.

Champions League and Premier League champions Manchester United have three players in the running, with hot favourite Cristiano Ronaldo, England hero Wayne Rooney and defender Nemanja Vidic part of the selected pool.

Meanwhile, fellow Champions League finalists Chelsea have three players of their own among the 30, with Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba joining Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard as the English contingency.

The winner will be selected on 2 December when 96 journalists from around the world cast their vote in a poll organised by France Football magazine.

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo.
Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid), Argentine.
Andreï Archavine (Zénith Saint-Pétersbourg), Russia.
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany.
Karim Benzema (Lyon), France.
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turin), Italy.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelone), Cameroon.
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC), Spain.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC), England.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Sweden.
Kaka (Milan AC), Brazil.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea), England.
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelone), Argentina.
Pepe (Real Madrid), Portugal.
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), France.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.
Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Spain.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Spain.
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Netherlands.
Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV puis Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Serbia.
David Villa (Valence CF), Spain.
Xavi (FC Barcelone), Spain.
Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscou), Russia.

I'm surprised Vidic is in there ahead of Ferdinand and I'm glad Ronaldinho isn't the running this year.

I reckon Ronaldo will win this year with Lionel Messi coming in second and Villa being third.

uri zhirkov and arshavin

classic.

both should be in the best league in the world. (unless they actually already are but we dont know) come on the russian football

What the hell is Luca Toni doing in there. He was awful at the Euros this year. Also, Adebayor is a good player but he is definately not the best player in the world. Zaki is better than him lol

zaki is a fookin beast.

still waiting for his drop in form, cos i was gonna put him in fantasy but thought ah il wait a bit more, but fook me class start in english football

Did you see his goal yesterday? Pure quality, I can see Wigan going for a Uefa Cup spot this year if Heskey, Zaki and Valencia keep up their form.

I am also waiting for him to stop scoring but I can see him topping the goalscoring charts along with Rooney this season as Torres doesn't look in the best of form and Ronaldo still hasn't got into his proper stride yet.

hes like if yakubu had all his seasons at once lol.

as yak must be like most consistant goal scorer for what 5 years or somthing

The winner will be selected on 2 December when 96 journalists from around the world cast their vote in a poll organised by France Football magazine.

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no intrest for me then

ronaldo to win, i personnaly hope van der sar, he gave Man utd the Champions leaugue

VDS is shit

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

VDS is shit

he is one of the three best keepers in the world

Its Messi

plus hip hop its not for the reason u said, its cos ur dutch lol.

and no he isnt. he has lost it in the mind, wobbley and indesicive.

and when the minds gone what happens, they lose all talent

its fairly obvious who no.1 and no.2 will be, but no 3 could be a tough choice, which i think torres will just get

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

VDS is shit

He's not shit but I think this should be his last season as like you said, he is beginning to look a bit dodgy. Foster looks like a great prospect if he stays fit for a change and Kuzczak is OK, but is always going to be our No 2.

And, Mr Twat will win aka Ronaldo. While VDS may have won us the Champions League, Ronaldo nearly cost us it by missing his penalty. I hope he goes to Madrid in January, they both deserve each other.

man city u mean lol.

he didnt "win you the C league"

god people are silly

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

he didnt "win you the C league"

god people are silly

I never said anyone won us the Champions League, I said VDS may have won it for us but it was obviously down to the whole team, not one player.

We won't win it again this season, that's for sure, I can see it being between Madrid, Chelsea and another fluke Liverpool win.

nani is shit too

Nice Backflip though

van der Sar is a liability, he's never has much to do yet still manages to fuck most of it up.

Last season we won games in spite of him and not because of him.