World Cup Golden Ball Nominees

I think David Villa or Schweinsteiger should get it. Sneijder has scored some good (if lucky) goals but hasn't dominated the midfield or passed particularly well.

I would actually pick Forlan. He's been amazing in this tournament and has had the biggest influence on the team. Also, Sneijder, who's had a fantastic season all around, and Villa whose goalscoring instinct and flair was the major contribution to Spain's success.

Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Arjen Robben (Holland)

Why 1 Holland and the other Netherlands?
Imo Bastian Schweinsteiger did a very nice job.

I would go with Andres Iniesta, great team player and very talented, Forlan would be my second choice…( not impressed with the Dutch players, and I don't know why Messi is there ( he's a great player, but has not been a good cup for him)

out of the above list it should be Villa.

IMO Muller deserves to be up there before Ozil and Schweinsteiger, even if those two do deserve to be there.

I would love to see Xavi or Iniesta get something, although I doubt they will.
Top honors should go to Forlan, probably followed by Villa, then maybe Sneijder.

if absolute talent is the measure then xavi should win it as xavi is what makes spain tick. heck, messi does well in barcelona only because of xavi's brutal efficiency in creating the plays. however chances are the one who will win it because far too often it's the evidence of results what counts is villa who has been outstanding. I also believe forlan has been amazing but with spain likely to be champions and villa being the likely top scorer then he has the advantage. messi? why? what the heck did he do but fail yet again at the national team level?

My heart says Sneijder but my head says one of the Spanish boys and Ozil. The press loves the Spanish NT.

Thomas Müller will be nominated (and probably win) the “Hyundai Best Young Player” award. Hence why he isn't in the above list.

Why are goalkeepers and defenders always overlooked? I think there should be an award for each position (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker).

Defence/defense wins championships.

I would pick Forlan, its incredible he's not on that list or any other Uruguyan player

“messi does well in barcelona only because of xavi”

Yet there was that whole Messi-dependence thing going on! That's not true at all; Messi creates quite a number of plays at Barcelona. The reason why Xavi does most of the lifting in that department is because *gasp* he's the playmaker at Barcelona. So just like a striker would have more goals than a typical midfielder, so too does Xavi make more plays than anyone else at Barca. But that's not what makes Messi good, since it still takes a great talent to finish those plays.

Diego Forlan .. carried the rest of the Uruguayan team and motivated them into playing their best futbol ever. Whoever thought that La Celeste was going to be among the best 4 teams of the World Cup?

Xavi or Villa. If Villa ends as the top goalscorer, then give it to Xavi.

Should be ''Diego Forlan'' & I donno why FIFA chosen Messi & Xavi they don't played well as far……..How rascal they r!!!!

Why Paul the Octopus isn't on that list is beyond me. Has anyone even approached his skill and consistency this tournament? I think not.

I think they should give a consolation iron ball to the ones who don't get a prize-that way the players could do the hammer throw should football not work out for them.

Goalkeepers and defenders are certainly not overlooked every time. Four years Fabio Cannavaro deservedly won the Golden Ball. This year, with John Terry narrowly missing the shortlist, I could have imagined maybe Friedrich or Puyol there but who else? Goalkeepers in their majority qualified for the flat ball only this year.

Gyan on the shortlist is an appreciation of the host continent's achievements or rather a consolation prize for the missed penalty.

Too close to call. Maybe I'm biased, but with a win, it could be Villa, Snejder or Schweinsteiger.

Uh, Cannavaro ring any bells?

Forlan for sure.

Stupid me. Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or but it was Zidane to win the Golden Ball. Right? It was a close call, though, as Zidane received 2012 and Cannavora 1977 votes. Nevertheless, if there is an outstanding defender or goalie (Kahn in 2002), he will get the honour. In addition, it's a vote, thus always contested.

Jobair, you should check your head for brain tumours. Xavi not good enough? He's not a striker, he's a playmaking midfielder. His game is judged by his passing, assists etc. With him on the field, Spain has 10% more possesion.

Zidane only got it that year because most of the judges had voted BEFORE the final match had taken place.

Definitely would not have made a difference. I'm assuming you watched the final, in which case you would know that Zizou scored a goal and had one of the most amazing headers I've ever seen saved.

Well he might even have had a hat-trick for all I care. If you think headbutting an opponent and getting sent off would not have negatively influenced the judges, you are incredibly naive.

The judges are incredibly shallow if they think the headbutt incident takes away majorly from Zidane's quality as a player. Basically, he cracked under the disgraceful and depressing mind games and insults utilized by the Italian national team. Sure it displays less mental strength than the optimum, but he was still far and away the best player at the cup.

That's your opinion. Mine is that even before the red card incident, most judges had given Zidane a vote of nostalgia. He was retiring after the world cup, it was his last major competition, the judges wanted to reward not only his tournament but Zidane's career as a whole. To my mind Cannavaro had a much better world cup that year than Zizou.

In any case, a player who ends his tournament (let alone his career… and I know first-hand how brilliant Zidane's was, as I'm a Juventus fan) on such a low note, is not worthy of any award within the context of that tournament. A perspective likely shared by the world cup judges, if only they'd had the chance to cast their votes AFTER the final.

Which is really the point of this argument after all: we can disagree all we want on whether Zidane deserved the award (regardless of the red card), but two facts remain:
1) most votes were cast before July 9 (commonplace in all FIFA world cups).
2) the red card would have had a tremendously negative impact on voting. Anyone with even a basic understanding of PR would agree on this.