Football Media

The contenders for this year’s FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year awards, which will be presented at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, FIFA’s home city, on 21 December 2009, were announced.

In alphabetical order, the male nominees are Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Kaka (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Xavi (Spain), while Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany) and Kelly Smith (England) will contest the women’s award.

These nominees were confirmed after a poll in which the coaches and captains of men’s and women’s national teams from around the world voted for candidates from a list drawn up by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and the FIFA Committee for Women’s Football.

The FIFA World Player Gala 2009 will have a number of exciting new features, including two new awards:

• The FIFA/FIFPro World XI, which will honour the best 11 players of the year as chosen by over 50,000 professional football players from all over the world.

• The FIFA Puskás Award, created in honour and in memory of Ferenc Puskás, the captain and star of the Hungarian national team during the 1950s, will be presented to the player – man or woman – who has scored the “most beautiful goal” during the past year.

For more information about the FIFA World Player Gala, including a list of previous winners, visit www.FIFA.com.

Spanish-language coverage of the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup begins on Wednesday, December 9th at 12:30pm ET with the preliminary match between Al Ahli (UAE) and Auckland City FC (NZL). The contest continues through Saturday, December 19th with the Championship Final airing on Fox Sports en Espanol at 11:00am ET.

FIFA Club World Cup is the competition between the leading clubs from all six continental confederations. Since 2007, the champions of Oceania have played a qualifying play-off against the champion club of the host country. In 2008, Manchester United (ENG) won its first FIFA Club World Cup by defeating first time participants and finalists, LDU Quito, (ECU) by 1-0.

In 2009, the event will be hosted outside of Japan for the first time ever as it travels to United Arab Emirates “Abu Dhabi”.

DAY DATE AIRTIME (ET) MATCH
Wednesday 12/09/2009 12:30 PM PRELIMINARY – Al Ahli FCD (UAE) v Auckland City FC (NZL)
Friday 12/11/2009 11:00 AM QUARTER FINAL – TP Mazembe (COD) v Pohang Steelers FC (KOR)
Saturday 12/12/2009 11:00 AM QUARTER FINAL – Winner Game 1 v Atlante FC (MEX)
Tuesday 12/15/2009 11:00 AM SEMI FINAL – Winner Game 2 v Estudiantes LP (ARG)
Wednesday 12/16/2009 8:00 AM FIFTH PLACE MATCH – Loser Game 2 v Loser Game 3
Wednesday 12/16/2009 11:00 AM SEMI FINAL – Winner Game 3 v FC Barcelona (ESP)
Saturday 12/19/2009 8:00 AM THIRD PLACE MATCH – Loser Game 4 v Loser Game 5
Saturday 12/19/2009 11:00 AM FINAL – Winner Game 4 v Winner Game 5

*For a complete telecast schedule, visit www.fifa.com.

Source: Fox Sports en Espanol

After their surprise home defeat by FC Zürich on 30 September, AC Milan will be determined to put themselves back in favour with their supporters with another good performance against Real Madrid CF.

• Their Matchday 2 reverse had left the Italian giants lagging in Group C, and their prospects looked even worse when Raúl González gave Madrid a 19th-minute lead at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, two goals in quick succession from Andrea Pirlo (62) and Pato (66) turned the match around. Substitute Royston Drenthe looked to have earned Madrid a point, yet Pato volleyed a winner with two minutes remaining to leave Milan and Madrid level on six points at the top of the table.

Previous meetings
• The teams’ first competitive contest was a semi-final encounter in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup debut season of 1955/56. Madrid edged that tie 5-4 on aggregate on their way to the first of five successive crowns.
• Milan have won all five home games against Madrid and have only conceded one goal. That came in their first meeting, the second leg of the semi-final 53 years ago which they won 2-1.
• Madrid’s last visit to Milan was in November 2002, a 1-0 defeat in the second group stage. They have since made six visits to Italy, losing on four occasions. Their only victory in that period came in December 2004 when they won 3-0 at AS Roma.

Match background
• Milan’s defeat by Zürich means they have lost two in a row in the UEFA Champions League at San Siro. Their previous home game resulted in a 2-0 loss to Arsenal FC in the 2007/08 first knockout round.
• This is the fourth time in three seasons that Los Merengues have been drawn against Italian opponents and they have lost the last five matches. They had won just one of the previous eight meetings.
• After their Matchday 1 victory at Zürich, Madrid are looking to make it successive away wins in the competition. Last season they won two away group games, at FC BATE Borisov and FC Zenit St. Petersburg, but lost at Juventus.

Team ties
• Several players are facing their former team. Kaká spent six seasons at Milan before his summer move to the Santiago Bernabéu while Clarence Seedorf won this trophy with Madrid in 1998. Klaas Jan Huntelaar had a seven-month spell with Madrid from December 2008.
• Xabi Alonso scored at the second attempt from the penalty spot for Liverpool FC against Milan to make it 3-3 in the 2005 final in Istanbul.
• During the penalty shoot-out in that same game, Jerzy Dudek saved from Pirlo and Andriy Shevchenko to help Liverpool earn the continental crown for the fifth time.
• While at Juventus, Filippo Inzaghi lost the 1998 final to Madrid in Amsterdam but scored both Milan goals in their 2-1 victory against Liverpool in the 2007 showpiece in Athens. Alonso and substitute Álvaro Arbeloa were in the opposing side that day with Dudek on the bench.
• Ronaldinho spent five years with Madrid’s arch-rivals FC Barcelona, winning the UEFA Champions League in 2006.
• Gianluca Zambrotta spent two years at Barça between 2006 and 2008, while Christian Abbiati spent 2007/08 on loan with Club Atlético de Madrid.
• Leonardo was on the bench when Milan visited Madrid in the 2002/03 second group stage.
• Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United FC in their 2006/07 semi-final first leg 3-2 win against Milan, before the Italian side won the return 3-0. He and Ruud van Nistelrooy also played for United against Milan in the first knockout round in 2004/05, which the Rossoneri won 2-0 on aggregate.
• Mathieu Flamini played for Arsenal FC in both legs of the 2005/06 first knockout round tie with Madrid and celebrated a 1-0 aggregate triumph.
• At UEFA EURO 2008™ a Spain team containing Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos defeated Italy, featuring Zambrotta and Massimo Ambrosini, on penalties in the quarter-finals. Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso were both suspended for the game.
• Italy also fielded Christian Panucci in that defeat. Panucci was a UEFA Champions League winner with Milan in 1994 and Madrid four years later. Fernando Redondo also featured for both teams and like Clarence Seedorf and Panucci, was crowned European champion with each.
• Fabio Capello had separate spells as coach of Milan and Madrid. The Italian led the Serie A side between 1991 and 1996 as well as in the 1997/98 campaign. He was in charge at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1996/97 and again in 2006/07.
• David Beckham spent four seasons with Madrid between 2003 and 2007 and played on loan for Milan last year.
• Brazilian internationals Thiago Silva (Milan) and Marcelo (Madrid) both joined their teams from Fluminense.

Who will be honoured with the title of FIFA World Player and FIFA Women’s World Player for 2009? FIFA has announced the names of the players on the short lists (see below) and the final decision will be made by the captains and head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams.

At the beginning of December, FIFA will announce the names of the five men and five women who have received the most votes and the winners will be revealed at the 19th FIFA World Player Gala at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 21 December 2009.

It should be noted that coaches and captains may not vote for players from the national team they coach or play for.

The lists of 23 male and ten female candidates for these prestigious awards have been drawn up by football experts from the Football Committee and the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA World Player 2009;

Michael Ballack (Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Diego (Brazil), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Kaká (Brazil), Frank Lampard (England), Luis Fabiano (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Carles Puyol (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

The following ten women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player 2009;

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Sonia Bompastor (France), Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Mana Iwabuchi (Japan), Simone Laudehr (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Abby Wambach (USA).