Soccer’s All-Stars for 2009
The football world gathered in Zurich, Switzerland last Monday for the annual FIFA gala to announce not only the FIFA World Player of the Year, but also the FIFA/FIFPro World XI.
With over 50,000 professional footballers from around the world voting for their best starting XI of the last 12 months; there was huge competition for a place in the prestigious team of the year.
The final XI was announced that evening and was totally dominated by the Premier League and La Liga, with all eleven places going to stars from Europe’s top two divisions.
Last year’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas retained his place between the posts as did Chelsea’s John Terry in defense. Barcelona’s Xavi and Leo Messi also made the squad for the second year running with Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.
Amongst the new arrivals on the team were Barcelona’s Dani Alves and Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic.
FIFA/FIFPro World XI team in full:
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Dani Alves (Barcelona)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi - Player of the Year
Messi will carry Argentina farther than people think in the World Cup. Mark my words.