FIFA World POY Nominees; Or: El Clasico Rules.

Leo gives us his ‘I’m ridiculous’ face.

Sending out nominees is the cool thing to do this time of year. UEFA did it yesterday and the Ballon d’Or is so cool they got the final award out of the way back in November. Which means it’s time for more and FIFA are next up.

Because FIFA always finds a way to muck everything up, they fall a distant second to the Ballon d’Or in the eyes of the world when they should probably be top of the lot (FIFA being the game’s definitive acronym and all).

But at least they got the nominees (there or thereabouts) without worrying too much about spreading the love: it’s another El Clasico duel.

The nominees.:

Barcelona:

Lionel Messi
Andres Iniesta
Xavi

Real Madrid:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Kaka

This looks awfully similar to the Ballon d’Or top five with only Kaka sneaking ahead of Samuel Eto’o.

Individual power has certainly shifted. Spending power has shifted. The balance of team power, based on one year, has shifted. And this year, with Liverpool crashing out early, the Champions League knockouts will feature as many Spanish clubs as English clubs.

‘Tis certainly a good year to be Spanish; a better year to be one of the two Clasico clubs.

Of course there is one question still lingering. The last four Ballon d’Or winners have gone on to claim similar FIFA honors, but four times this decade alone the two awards have seen two different winners. So is there any chance record-setting Leo doesn’t win this one too?

(Not a one.)

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Category: Spain La Liga, World Football