Ballon d'Or

[The_weatherman]

Why isn't Torres in contention, winning goal in Euro's plus 30 something for us. Is it just for club level, Ronaldo should win it but I fail to see what Kaka, or Messi for that matter, has done over the last year that Torres didnt surpass.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=583471&sec=europe&cc=5739

England internationals Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or.

The trio are the only British representatives for the award alongside the likes of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo - the clear favourite - and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

France Football magazine today revealed the condensed list of 30 contenders for their European golden ball award, with Barcelona striker Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Ronaldinho - who received the accolade in 2005 - absent after disappointing campaigns last season.

Portugal international winger Ronaldo is the clear favourite to win the award on December 2 with Barca talisman Lionel Messi and 2007 winner Kaka (AC Milan) also in contention.

Rooney won the Champions League with Manchester United in May while Lampard played in the final for Chelsea. Liverpool's Gerrard impressed as they reached the tournament's last four before losing to Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba (both Chelsea), Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic (both Manchester United) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) are the other Premier League stars on the list, which has been cut down from 50.

Spain are represented by seven players after winning Euro 2008 in the summer - Torres and Fabregas being joined by Marcos Senna, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, David Villa and Xavi.

Only three Serie A players have been nominated - Kaka, Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - with Spain's Primera Division matching the Premier League with 11 nominees.

Previous Ballon d'Or winners Andriy Shevchenko and Fabio Cannavaro have missed out.

Nominees

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar (all Manchester United), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack (all Chelsea), Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres (both Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor (both Arsenal), Iker Casillas, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rafael van der Vaart, Sergio Ramos, Pepe (all Real Madrid), Lionel Messi, Xavi, Samuel Eto'o (all Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), David Villa (Valencia), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Kaka (AC Milan), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Franck Ribery, Luca Toni (both Bayern Munich), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow). Karim Benzema (Lyon)

[michelmas]

Torres is in contention and is one of the favourites for the prize.

[Craig_H]

Why isn't Torres in contention, winning goal in Euro's plus 30 something for us. Is it just for club level, Ronaldo should win it but I fail to see what Kaka, or Messi for that matter, has done over the last year that Torres didnt surpass.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=583471&sec=europe&cc=5739

England internationals Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or.

The trio are the only British representatives for the award alongside the likes of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo - the clear favourite - and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

France Football magazine today revealed the condensed list of 30 contenders for their European golden ball award, with Barcelona striker Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Ronaldinho - who received the accolade in 2005 - absent after disappointing campaigns last season.

Portugal international winger Ronaldo is the clear favourite to win the award on December 2 with Barca talisman Lionel Messi and 2007 winner Kaka (AC Milan) also in contention.

Rooney won the Champions League with Manchester United in May while Lampard played in the final for Chelsea. Liverpool's Gerrard impressed as they reached the tournament's last four before losing to Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba (both Chelsea), Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic (both Manchester United) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) are the other Premier League stars on the list, which has been cut down from 50.

Spain are represented by seven players after winning Euro 2008 in the summer - Torres and Fabregas being joined by Marcos Senna, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, David Villa and Xavi.

Only three Serie A players have been nominated - Kaka, Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - with Spain's Primera Division matching the Premier League with 11 nominees.

Previous Ballon d'Or winners Andriy Shevchenko and Fabio Cannavaro have missed out.

Nominees

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar (all Manchester United), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack (all Chelsea), Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres (both Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor (both Arsenal), Iker Casillas, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rafael van der Vaart, Sergio Ramos, Pepe (all Real Madrid), Lionel Messi, Xavi, Samuel Eto'o (all Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), David Villa (Valencia), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Kaka (AC Milan), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Franck Ribery, Luca Toni (both Bayern Munich), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow). Karim Benzema (Lyon)

Of course he's in contention, he's named in the list of nominees.

[The_weatherman]

Of course he's in contention, he's named in the list of nominees.

I mean the focus is on the other three as highlighted, they are not all in contention even if they manage the list, usually there are about three players grabbing most of the votes, the indication is that Torres shouldn't be one of them.

[Shaggy]

I know what theweatherman is saying. Torres, if he doesn't win, should be nailed-on for 2nd place yet Kaka and Messi are mentioned in that article as though they're better placed to win.

Torres arguably should win it ahead of Ronaldo - similarly brilliant domestic campaigns yet Torres scored the winner in the Euros final, while Ronaldo did pretty much **** all in the tournament.

Or does international football not count?

[magicalbarnes]

Sorry but i reckon its Ronaldo, he deserves it.

[Rich]

Toss up between Ronaldo and Torres

In the blue corner: 42 goals, league winners medal and Champions League medal.

In the red corner: 33 goals, plus the winning goal in the Euro's.

Tough call. Out of interest, how many goals did Ronaldo score from the Penalty spot?

[Joe King]

Toss up between Ronaldo and Torres

In the blue corner: 42 goals, league winners medal and Champions League medal.

In the red corner: 33 goals, plus the winning goal in the Euro's.

Tough call. Out of interest, how many goals did Ronaldo score from the Penalty spot?

Find out yourself, ya lazy get.

[Rich]

Find out yourself, ya lazy get.

Can't be arsed, some one on here will know/look it up!

[The_weatherman]

I know what theweatherman is saying. Torres, if he doesn't win, should be nailed-on for 2nd place yet Kaka and Messi are mentioned in that article as though they're better placed to win.

Torres arguably should win it ahead of Ronaldo - similarly brilliant domestic campaigns yet Torres scored the winner in the Euros final, while Ronaldo did pretty much **** all in the tournament.

Or does international football not count?

These two were the standout footballers in Europe. Think Ronaldo will win it due to the double but if Torres doesn't come a close second there is something wrong IMO.

[Parm]

wasn drogba injured for quite a bit last season?

[Rich]

Yeah, basically a lot of it is about reputation!

[AFII]

Kaka had a **** season by his standard in Serie A. It's a joke that they mention him before Torres.

Torres is the only player that delivered in the league, national team and the CL.

Ronaldo has been average so far this season and it's the year 2008 that counts not the 2007-08 season.

Torres should get it because he has been great the whole year.

[keniget]

Torres was outshone by David Villa in Euro2008 and found it hard to reproduce his club form for the Spain. In a way it was lucky for him that Villa got injured because that meant they then had to play to his strengths and he instantly looked better for it.

It's a toss up between Ronaldo and Torres but I think Ronaldo will win it.

[tsb]

Can't be arsed, some one on here will know/look it up!

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