Article by Stephen Lars

On January 10, 2011, once the official ceremony begins, FIFA and France Football magazine, will award the Ballon d’Or to the most outstanding player in the world.

After this season the title was unified with the award for best player of the FIFA. This means that journalists in the sports magazine along with the coaches of national teams of the nations involved and the captains of each of the clubs evaluated will be responsible for choosing the winner by vote.

There are many players who want to be named among the list of potential candidates, but few are able to carry out a true breakout season to give them the opportunity to see their name shine among the candidates.

For this year, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, outstanding players all members of the powerful FC Barcelona, are the three finalists nominated to win the Ballon d’Or 2010. Since the award was established in 1956, this is the third time that three players from the same team complete the podium. This happened to AC Milan in 1988 when Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkard were chosen. The following year Marco van Basten Milan repeated with the first, along with Franco Baresi and Rijkaard in second and third place respectively.

Throughout the history of the Ballon d’Or, Barcelona has recorded seven trophies provided by six players. The Catalans are currently third at the club level and are outweighed by the Italians from Milan and Juventus, who have, each, eight players creditors Golden Ball

Lionel Messi, Argentina’s talented striker and one of the outstanding figures of Barça, is present in another edition of the Ballon d’Or. Messi was nominated for the award in 2007. He came in third place behind Kaka, the winner, and Cristiano Ronaldo. The following year the Argentine again was among the nominees, but finishes second to be beaten by Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres was third.

In 2009, Messi made a perfect season and gets the trophy, which was proved that his talent is greater than the fame and the spotlight that Cristiano Ronaldo, who was second, may have. The third place on that occasion went to Xavi Hernández.

With respect to Hernandez, this is his second nomination for the Ballon d’Or. This year, the Spanish midfielder is listed as the favorite to win the prize. This is mainly due to the professionalism with which he works, both on and off the pitch.

While Messi is the favorite and was also named best player of Argentina in the last World Cup, Argentina’s under par performance could hurt his personal aspirations. Messi whatsoever has had a really good performance with the Catalans.

Andres Iniesta, another talented figure of Barcelona, is also present with his nomination for the Ballon d’Or to the great performance he did in South Africa 2010, securing Spain’s a 1-0 victory in the World Cup final.

With this Ballon d’Or, Barcelona adds its eight title and matches Milan and Juventus’ records. The Spanish League will obtain its fourteenth award, leaving them four behind the Italian Serie A.

About the Author

Stephen Lars has been a prominent writer on regular International Football games, sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.