Golden Ball Final 50: Totti? Zlatan? It’s All Good.

By: Martha | October 22nd, 2007

[instert ball-kissing comment here] The people at France Football must be so stoked that FIFA’s World Player of the Year list came out before theirs did, because they’re going to look like a bunch of geniuses by comparison no matter who they put on their list, as long as they get it at least somewhat right.

I mean, they got Totti and Zlatan on there, along with Kaka, Ronaldo (the pretty one) and Messi, so who’s going to complain about the fact that David Beckham and Fabio Cannavaro are on the list? (Is there maybe some sort of rule that the Ball-Holder, so to speak, has to be nominated the following year? Because that’s the only reason I can think of for Canna being anywhere near the thing.) Or, you know, that though Paolo Maldini is a god of football, calling him one of the top 50 players in the world last season is a sign of clear senility on someone’s part?

And the list is teeming with Italians — there are more of them than any other nationality — which is sure to make everyone who threw fits at the omission of Totti from FIFA’s list very happy indeed. In addition to Totti, Canna and Maldini, Pippo Inzaghi (on the strength of the Champions League final, no doubt), Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni and Gigi Buffon also made the top 50, the latter’s status as the best keeper in Italy excusing the fact that he spent last season stopping shots in Serie B.

The winner will be announced at a posh ceremony in December, but we’ll know before then who won, because leaks are wonderful things. Be aware, though, that there will be dire consequences if the wrong person wins: The clairvoyant Adriano Galliani has declared the world will end if Kaka doesn’t take home the prize. Consider yourselves warned, voters.

The full list is after the jump, for those of you who are interested. (And, even if you’re not, you need to know that Ricky Quaresma is the only BWINLIGA player on it. That is all.)

Eric Abidal (Barcelona), France.
Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Brazil.
David Beckham (LA Galaxy), England.
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham), Bulgaria.
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy.
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Italy.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.
Petr Cech (Chelsea), Czech Republic.
Rogerio Ceni (San Paolo), Brazil.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal.
Deco (Barcelona), Portugal.
Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Mali.
Diego (Werder Bremen), Brazil.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.
Michael Essien (Chelsea), Ghana.
Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona), Cameroon.
Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.
Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Italy.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England.
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Wales.
Thierry Henry (Barcelona), France.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Sweden.
Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Italy.
Kaka (Milan), Brazil.
Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla), Mali.
Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Germany.
Younis Mahmoud (Algharafa), Iraq.
Paolo Maldini (Milan), Italy.
Florent Malouda (Chelsea), France.
Lionel Andres Messi (Barcelona), Argentina.
Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Japan.
Guillermo Ochoa (America Mexico), Mexico.
Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Italy.
Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Portugal.
Raul (Real Madrid), Spain.
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), France.
Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Argentina.
Robinho (Real Madrid), Brazil.
Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Brazil.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.
Paul Scholes (Manchester United), England.
Clarence Seedorf (Milan), Holland.
Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Argentina.
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.
Kolo Toure (Arsenal), Ivory Coast.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain.
Francesco Totti (Roma), Italy.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Holland.
Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Holland.
David Villa (Valencia), Spain.