Five members of Italy’s World Cup winning squad are included in the shortlist of 30 players who will compete for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year title.

Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo are on the list, along with five Frenchman who starred in the World Cup Final in Berlin, those being Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Frank Ribery, Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira.

The name of Ronaldinho’s successor will be released on December 18 at the Zurich Opera House, during the 16th annual World Player Gala.

The list of candidates for the award was drawn up by football experts from different FIFA committees.

As in the last two years, the head coaches and captains of the national teams will now vote for the best player from the lists of candidates and FIFA will reveal the three names who received the most votes at the beginning of December.

The Gala will also include prizes for outstanding performances at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The tournament’s three best players (Zidane, Cannavaro and Pirlo) and top scorers (Miroslav Klose, Hernan Crespo and Ronaldo) will be presented with awards, as will the two fairest teams (Brazil and Spain) and the outstanding goalkeeper (Buffon).

The most represented club is Chelsea with six nominees, while Barcelona and Milan boast four players each.

Only Zidane and Ronaldinho among the candidates have already lifted the prestigious trophy in the past.

FIFA World Player of the Year shortlist:
Adriano (Inter, Brazil), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany),
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic),
Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast),
Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon),
Luis Figo (Inter, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan, Italy),
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France),
Kaka (Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany),
Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (Milan, Italy),
Andrea Pirlo (Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Marseille, France),
Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina),
Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine),
Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Patrick Vieira (Inter, France),
Zinedine Zidane (retired, France)

*Channel4 (http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/oct12l.html)

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The list included some unnecessary players, the likes of Ribery, Riquelme, Rosicky, Essien, Figo and Lahm didnt do nothing for the FIFA player of the year, its too heavy on their performance last year.

in ma opinion the best are :

Hnery : for his outstandin' performance with France ( wc final) n
Arsenal (CL final ), honestly i think he dserves it.

Canavarro : Led Italy to claim itz fourth WC title , n preformed so well with his team Juve b4 tx to Real.

n Same goes to Buffun,, he's just the best GK in the world, without him Italy wudnt ve reached the final! plus his great contribution to the Juve!

the rest have done great jobs but i think the award should be within these three players.

Henry played well in CL final and WC Final? Who are you kidding mate?

1-Kaka - For outshining the rest of the Selecao, Great performance at Milan and all the humane activities he participated in : Participating in the Olympics for the disabled
2-Frank Lampard - Being the spine of Chelsea, outstanding performance
3-Andrea Pirlo/Gennaro Gattuso - Outstanding performance as a duo, in Milan and Azzuri.
4-Cannavaro - The only thing penalising him from not winning is the Juve scandal.

Rooney's name is an insult to all football fans.

Rooney's name is an insult to all football fans.

I second that

Ronaldinho remains the best.

Ronaldinho remains the best.

He won it last year ;)

Yes, and he won it the year before, nothing wrong in winning over again. The last World Cup was not really exciting, but more commercial, except the last few games. And, there wasn't specific player appeared as the star of the tournament. Even Zidaine did not play good except the last few games and ended with a red card.

Ronaldinho did a lot for Barcelona in the La Liga and Champions League, except the World cup which was not his fault for performing poorly.

Italian players should be removed from that shortlist. Italian league last year was a big joke, full of fixed matches and scandles. None of the Juventus players should be in the shortlist as punishment, such as Buffon, Cannavaro. I think Toni deserves to be in the list instead of the rest Italian players. A big "X" on Rooney and Gerrard.

Salam.

How about Kaka'?

Regarding Italian players (not being Biased) Gattuso, Pirlo, Zambrotta, and Nesta do deserve it too (nesta least deserving in the list)

Henry played well in CL final and WC Final? Who are you kidding mate?

1-Kaka - For outshining the rest of the Selecao, Great performance at Milan and all the humane activities he participated in : Participating in the Olympics for the disabled
2-Frank Lampard - Being the spine of Chelsea, outstanding performance
3-Andrea Pirlo/Gennaro Gattuso - Outstanding performance as a duo, in Milan and Azzuri.
4-Cannavaro - The only thing penalising him from not winning is the Juve scandal.

itz seems ur the one who'z kiddin' otherwise u wouldn't put kaka in ur list!

man the best player selction iz accrodin' to their achievements n the title they get with either national team or club ! what on earth did kaka get !
the only thin i agree is that he was the best of the worse if the Brazilian team in the world cup but,, how far did they go ? quarter final ! how about with his club Milan ! what did he get ? Calcio title ? no,, CL ? no ! so !!

on the other hand ! HENRY ! played WC final with France ! CL final with gunnerz .. those two most important competition in the football world are just enough in ma opinion to outstand ur so called KAKA !

Here you go :

the list down to three names :

Roni

Zidane

Cannavaro

Am shicked to see Roni's name in the last three as i think he doesn't deserve it at all , Yet Henry should be there , it's such a lame n shame that he's not there.

Cannavaro is in fav i guess , and it would be nice to see ZIdane get it as an appreciation for his major contribution to the football.

This is the final list??!!!!

Yea , and the final will be 18 Dec

Fabio Cannavaro could add the FIFA World Player of the Year award to his Golden Ball, it has been confirmed.

The Italian international defender has made the final three-man shortlist along with 2005 winner Ronaldinho and the now retired Zinedine Zidane.

The award, which will be assigned on December 18, is voted for by the Coach and captain of all the national teams under FIFA’s umbrella.

Cannavaro was this week crowned as Europe’s top player after he beat Gigi Buffon and Thierry Henry to the France Football honour.

Barcelona star Ronaldinho is in contention to win the prize for the third time despite a disappointing World Cup.

Zidane, shown red in the World Cup Final for his vicious head-butt on Marco Materazzi, has already triumphed in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

Cannavaro, who had never made the final shortlist before, would become the first defender to win the trophy and only the second Italian player after Roberto Baggio in 1993.

The Zurich presentation ceremony will also include prizes for outstanding performances at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The tournament’s three best players – Zidane, Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo – and three top scorers – Miroslav Klose, Hernan Crespo and Ronaldo – will be presented with awards too.

Brazil and Spain will receive recognition for their Fair Play during the tournament and Gigi Buffon will be applauded for being named as the World Cup’s best ‘keeper.

*Channel4 (http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/nov29f.html)

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Ronnie doesnt deserve it, Zizou certainly doesnt but Canna somehow deserves the award

Zidane desreves it for sure ,, no matter what happened with Materazi , he's the main reason France played the final ,,not to mention the penalty kick !

Ronaldinho shouldn't be there in the first place , Hnery should on the other hand !

Cannavaro wins the award. the best news today and it made me happy.

Zidane is 2nd.

Congratulations Canna :)

Adidas Footballer of the yr.

Zidane

i think Ronaldinho will need pain killers for the next coming days!! i mean, 1st barca lost the cup on Sat... and now he was ranked 3rd by FIFA!!! someone get him some pain killers plz!!!

Cannavaro, deserves it as he's known for one of the greatest defenders out there and am glad that Zidane is the 2nd. :)

Congratulations Fabio :)
He deserves it