Ballon d’Or 2009 nominees

[AleG]

The France Football magazine has released a list of 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or 2009. Three current Manchester United players and Cristiano Ronaldo made the list. Sorry, Dimitar is not on the list. However, Giggs, Rooney and Vidic are among this year’s nominees. The winner will be announced on December 1st. Last year, the photos of Cristiano at his home with the award were released on that day; the photos were taken a day earlier and The Sun reporters camping at the airport broke the news. This year Messi is the favorite to succeed Cristiano. But I’d vote for Xavi. Maybe Dimitar will be in next year’s list if he keeps up with the good work.

The complete list is:

Andreï Archavine (Russie, Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France, Lyon puis Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Espagne, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United puis Real Madrid)
Diego (Brésil, Werder Brême puis Juventus Turin)
Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire, Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnie, Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroun, FC Barcelone puis Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Espagne, Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Espagne, Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (Angleterre, Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Pays de Galles, Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France, FC Barcelone)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Suède, Inter Milan puis FC Barcelone)
Iniesta (Espagne, FC Barcelone)
Julio Cesar (Brésil, Inter Milan)
Kakà (Brésil, Milan AC puis Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (Angleterre, Chelsea)
Maicon (Brésil, Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentine, FC Barcelone)
Luis Fabiano (Brésil, FC Séville)
Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (Angleterre, Manchester United)
John Terry (Angleterre, Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbie, Manchester United)
David Villa (Espagne, Valence)
Xavi (Espagne, FC Barcelone)
Yaya Touré (Côte d'Ivoire, FC Barcelone)

Review the complete site for the Ballon d’Or in

http://www.francefootball.fr/FF/Ballon_Or_home.html
Les trente nommés sont