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Shortlists for FIFA Balon d’Or 2010

October 27, 2010 — by Suman

2009 Balon d'Or Winners

Via FIFA.com:

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010:
Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlán (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Júlio César (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Mesut Özil (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The odd man in there seems to Asamoah Gyan.  Don’t get us wrong, we were impressed by Baby Jet performances this summer in Africa (this one against the USMNT in the World Cup of course–but also this more recent performance)–but he hasn’t accomplished what the other players on the list have.  (Özil and Müller are two even younger players that one might argue about–but those two have already impressed and achieved more for both club and country than Gyan has.)

There’s more to the Balon d’Or than just the men’s player award however.  The shortlists for the other three categories:

The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player 2010:
Camille Abily (France), Fatmire Bajramaj (Germany), So Yun Ji (Korea Republic), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Caroline Seger (Sweden), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Kelly Smith (England), Hope Solo (USA) and Abby Wambach (USA).

The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and then team) are in contention for theFIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football 2010:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Chelsea FC), Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), Joachim Löw (Germany/Germany national team), José Mourinho (Portugal/FC Internazionale Milano and Real Madrid CF), Oscar Tabárez (Uruguay/Uruguay national team), Louis Van Gaal (Netherlands, FC Bayern Munich), Bert Van Marwijk (Netherlands/Netherlands national team) and Arsène Wenger (France/Arsenal).

The following ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and then team) are in contention for theFIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football 2010:
Bruno Bini (France/France national team), In Cheul Choi (Korea Republic/Korea Republic U-20 national team), Maren Meinert (Germany/Germany U-20 national team), Albertin Montoya (USA/FC Gold Pride), Silvia Neid (Germany/Germany national team), Hope Powell (England/England national team), Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japan national team), Bernd Schröder (Germany/FFC Turbine Potsdam), Pia Sundhage (Sweden/USA national team), Béatrice von Siebenthal (Switzerland/Switzerland national team).