FIFA World Player Of The Year Shortlist - 23 Player Nominees Announced

23 nominees have been announced for this years FIFA World Player of the Year Award. There are not many surprise nominees this year, many old faces on this list.

This years list consists of the following players:

NOMINEES FOR 2009 FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Player- Team- Age

Michael Ballack- Chelsea- 33

Gianluigi Buffon- Juventus- 31

Iker Casillas- Real Madrid- 28

Diego- Juventus/Werder Bremen- 24

Didier Drogba- Chelsea- 31

Michael Essien- Chelsea- 26

Samuel Eto'o- Inter/Barcelona- 28

Steven Gerrard- Liverpool- 29

Thierry Henry- Barcelona- 32

Zlatan Ibrahimovic- Barcelona/Inter- 28

Andres Iniesta- Barcelona- 25

Kaka- Real Madrid/AC Milan- 27

Frank Lampard- Chelsea- 31

Luis Fabiano- Sevilla- 28

Lionel Messi- Barcelona- 22

Carles Puyol- Barcelona- 31

Franck Ribery- Bayern Munich- 26

Cristiano Ronaldo- Real Madrid/Man Utd- 24

Wayne Rooney- Manchester United- 24

John Terry- Chelsea- 28

Fernando Torres- Liverpool- 25

David Villa- Valencia- 27

Xavi- Barcelona- 29

My prediction for this years top 3 nominees are Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo. I do not see a double for Ronaldo this year so my pick goes to, of course, Lional Messi.

Messi's 2009 La Liga season, Champions League play and taking in the treble for Barcelona give him this years award easily. Receiving second will be Casillas and rounding off is Ronaldo. Ronaldo will need a high showing with Real Madrid this season to take home next years FIFA Player of the Year Award, living up to his 94 million euro price tag he received this summer. Winning anything less then a treble for Real will be considered a disappointment.

Enjoy,

JC