Fifa released its list of the 23 nominees for the Ballon D'Or of 2010. Along with the 23 players, there are also 10 managers/coaches competing for the World Coaches of the Year award. The winners of both will be announced by FIFA on December 6th.
Something which will stand out right away when you look at the list of the 23 players is that there are no Italian players. This was predictable especially with the Italian National team having trouble in the 2010 World Cup. While I thought that maybe the Juventus central defender Giorgio Chiellini could've made the final 23, he didn't. I'm certainly disappointed, and I hope that next year we'll be able to see a couple of Italian names on that list of 23 players. Maybe Giuseppe Rossi, Davide Santon, or Mario Balotelli?
Although the list is devoid of Italians, luckily there are some players representing the Serie A. There are only four Serie A players, and all four of them play for Inter Milan. They are: Julio Cesar, Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto'o, and Maicon. If you were to ask me, those are four great choices, but it's a little disappointing that there's no other Serie A side represented.
And there's an interesting player who wasn't included in the final 23, and that's Diego Milito of Inter Milan. Surely if there was a star goalscorer from last year, you'd have to think about Inter Milan's Argentinean. He scored both goals in the Champions League final to make sure that Inter won the historical trophy, but FIFA haven't included him in the nominees for the Ballon D'Or. I think he should've been included, what about you?
Funnily enough, there's an Italian on the list of the World Coaches of the Year award, good old Carlo Ancelotti. Carlo did a great job at Chelsea in his first year, and he won the English Premier League title. Along with Carlo, Jose Mourinho is nominated after his extraordinary treble which he accomplished with Inter Milan last year.
While I think this award will go to Jose Mourinho, what are your thoughts? Please comment below! And what are your thoughts regarding the lack of Italians? Who do you think will be the next Italian to be on the shortlist? Share your thoughts below! And if you haven't seen the list of the nominees yet, be sure to check it out here!
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5 comments… read them below or add one
This just goes to show how far behind Italian football is nowadays, further proof after Italy performances in the World Cup.
Yep, hopefully Italy will be able to pick itself up with Prandelli at the helm.
I’m afraid it may be a few years before an Italian graces that list again. The players you mentioned are either too young or don’t play for a big club yet (Rossi.) In fact, I can’t even think of a semi-veteran who might be nominated, especially since these awards tend to go to offensive players, with the odd exception (Cannavaro.) I could imagine Daniele De Rossi some day, but he’d have to have an awfully good season just to make the list. Cassano? Not on a big team. Maybe Pirlo.
As for the winner — Leo Messi is the best player in the world. No one else is close. Yet he won’t win.
All I really care about is Serie A being competitive. Yes, it’s nice having teams in the later stages of the Champions League, but nothing beats the weekly drama of the league. I feel the same way about the Bundesliga. Far more exciting than the same ol’ same ol’ of England & Spain, even if the football may be of a higher quality.
i think wesley sneijder will win it and that mourinho is almost a certainty for the best manager. I also think that Milito should be there instead of asamoah gyan.
Personally I’d like to see Serie A return to being the best league in the world as it was about a decade ago and having 2 of the semi finalist of the champions league on a regular basis. Yes i also think having a competitive league is important but as the league has been demising it’s been Inter and Roma finishing 1 & 2 and playing off in the final of the cup as well. I think the most important thing at this stage is holding on to the third position on the coeffecients and 4 champions league places - to do that Inter will need to run deep into the knock out stages and hopefully bundesliga sides get an early exit.
P.S. If you want really competitive football check out the A-league of Australia - reigning champions of last season are bottom with one win from eleven games and the side that finished last last season is on top undefeated.
You can make all the statements you want about how competitive Serie A is and how it compares to other European leagues, but it clearly isn’t benefiting Italian football which I think is a theme in this story. I think the point Niccolo was making, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that he doesn’t feel that the Italian players were all overlooked for any other reason than that there wasn’t frequent quality and outstanding displays over the last year. The big Italian teams need to be pushing further in European competitions for their players to be included in these awards and so it is no surprise that it was only Inter players included.