Barca dominate list

Seven members of the Barcelona side which claimed last season’s Champions League and La Liga double were yesterday named on the 23-man shortlist for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or.

Barca edged out Real Madrid to land the domestic crown and then eased past Manchester United at Wembley to claim their fourth Champions League title.

That achievement was recognised with Eric Abidal, Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, David Villa and Xavi all nominated for the award, while summer signing Cesc Fabregas has also been included on the list.

The winner is chosen by the captains and head coaches of national teams within FIFA as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football, on December 5.

Real were also well represented with five nominees – Karim Benzema, Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and Xabi Alonso – while Manchester United (Wayne Rooney and Nani) and Bayern Munich (Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger) had two each.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola was named among the candidates for the FIFA World Coach of the Year alongside the winners of the domestic crowns in England (Manchester United’s Alex Ferguson), France (Lille’s Rudi Garcia), Germany (Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp) and Portugal (Porto’s former boss Andre Villas-Boas, now of Chelsea).

The shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011 is: Abidal (France), Aguero (Argentina), Benzema (France), Casillas (Spain), Ronaldo (Portugal), Alves (Brazil), Eto’o (Cameroon), Fabregas (Spain), Forlan (Uruguay), Iniesta (Spain), Messi (Argentina), Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Ozil (Germany), Pique (Spain), Rooney (England), Schweinsteiger (Germany), Sneijder (Netherlands), Suarez (Uruguay), Villa (Spain), Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).