Lampard?

You wonder how Luis Felipe Scolari ever won a World Cup with a statement like this:

“My vote for World Player of the Year is for Frank. Only he could score that goal...It’s one of the best goals I’ve seen. There’s only one player with this quality to score that goal...To have that intelligence to see the goalkeeper and to finish like that, I think it’s one of the best I’ve seen in my football career...He’s an intelligent player. I don’t see any player the same as Frank — it’s a fantastic for a coach to have a player like him.”

Lampard is a very good player - but The Best Player in the World?

Come on Luis, are we missing something here?

Still, this mention meets our criteria: Scolari is a manager and he did use the term "The Best Player in the World".

Therefore, one vote for Lampard - as if it's going to make a difference in this contest.

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Ronaldo always wanted to become The Best Player in the World

''But I have always been an ambitious player. I try to improve every season, not because I have to prove myself to anyone, just because I want to be the best I can be...I am still young and if I am being honest, I did not think I would reach this level so quickly...But I always believed in my talent and I have learned a lot, so it made me think that maybe I would become the best player in the world.''

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FIFA nominees for World Player of the Year

Soccernet.com has observed that FIFA's list of nominees for its World Player of the Year award consists of 6 Spaniards.

That doesn't surprise me - given both the high quality of that team and it's wonderful individual players.

Still - we think the award will go to Cristiano after the coaches and captains have cast their votes.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid and Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg and Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea and Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus and Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain), Deco (Chelsea and Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona and Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal and Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan and Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Kaka (AC Milan and Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea and England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea and England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool and Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid and Netherlands), David Villa (Valencia and Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona and Spain).

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Cristiano wins the players' vote

Yesterday, FifPro, a worldwide representative organisation for professional football players, with more than 57,500 members, named Cristiano Ronaldo as The Best Player in the World.

Said Ronaldo of this particular version of The Best Player in the World title:

"To be recognised by my fellow players is amazing...I would like to thank my team-mates and coaches and everyone involved at United and the national team, as well as my family and friends for their support."

Cristiano awaits now the verdicts of the Ballon d'Or (voted by journalists) and FIFA (voted by managers and captains) to confirm his status as The Best Player in the World.

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Cristiano votes for himself

"I am completely confident...If you assess what I did over the course of the season; I think I did more than anyone. What more could I have done to win the Ballon d'Or and the Fifa award?"

The question is will Messi do the same?

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Sir Alex votes for Cristiano

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson thinks that Ronaldo deserves both the European and World Footballer of the Year awards:

"I think Ronaldo will win both of them...If he doesn't I want to sign the guy who does win them."

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Lippi votes for Messi

Italy's World Cup winning manager Marcello Lippi has publicly cast his vote this year's Best Player in the World:

"For me the candidates for the Ballon D'or are just three: Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Messi. They could have done without the rest...As for who is the best in the world, in my opinion it's Leo Messi."

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Greening thinks Rooney may be best right now

After losing to United 4 - nil at the weekend, West Brom captain Jonathan Greening came to this conclusion about Wayne Rooney:

"Rooney is just awesome, isn’t he? He is one of the best players in the world — if not the best — even at his young age...He’s fast and he’s strong. I don’t think there’s a weakness in his game. It simply doesn’t matter where Alex Ferguson decides to play him. You’ve just got to let him play where he feels he will be effective...If he is getting joy down the left, he’ll go there and if he’s getting joy down the right, he’ll go there. If he’s getting joy in the hole, he’ll play there. He’s just an amazing player."

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Ruud thinks Cristiano will win Ballon d'Or

"My vote would be for (Iker) Casillas," Van Nistelrooy is quoted as saying, "however, I think Cristiano will win.""A player like him would be good for any team. I think everything about that subject has already been said," he concluded.

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