ZURICH, October 10 (FIFA) - Spanish giants Barcelona dominate the nominations for FIFA's World Player of the Year award.
Seven players from the Catalan club have made the 30-strong list drawn up by FIFA's technical committee.
Argentinian wonderkid Lionel Messi, Portuguese playmaker Deco, strikers Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho and defenders Rafael Marquez and Lilian Thuram are all in the running for the award, even though Barcelona failed to win either the Champions League or the Primera Liga last season.
Real Madrid have three nominations, meaning the Primera Liga is level with the English Premier League as the most represented division, both with 10.
But despite the plethora of Spanish-based players on the list, only one Spaniard, Liverpool's Fernando Torres, is included.
Five members of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning squad make the list, including current world player of the year Fabio Cannavaro.
Serie A though has only six nominations, with four - favourite Kaka, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo - coming from AC Milan.
Internazionale's emphatic Scudetto win has not made an impact on the list, with midfielder Patrick Viera the Nerazzurri's only representative, while Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is included despite playing in Serie B last season.
The list will now be sent to national team coaches and captains for their votes and the top three players will be revealed at FIFA's world player gala in Zurich on December 17.
Men's list: Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cech (Chelsea, Czech Rep), Ronaldo (Man Utd, Portugal), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Henry (Barcelona, France), Juninho (Lyon, Brazil), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Klose (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lampard (Chelsea, England), Marquez (Barcelona, Mexico), Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Rooney (Man Utd, England), Terry (Chelsea, England), Tevez (Man Utd, Argentina), Thuram (Barcelona, France), Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), Vieira (Internazionale, France).
