FIFA Golden Ball Nominees Announced

The FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke and adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer today officially announced the 10 nominees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ adidas Golden Ball. The adidas Golden Ball is the official FIFA trophy for the “Best Player of the Tournament”. The ten nominated players were selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group and includes football experts such as Kalusha Bwalya, Christian Karembeu, Jomo Sono and Gérard Houllier.

Accredited media representatives will vote to determine the winners of the adidas Golden, Silver and Bronze ball awards on FIFA.com. The winners will be announced after the final on 11 July.

adidas Golden Ball past winners:
1982 FIFA World Cup- Spain: Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1986 FIFA World Cup- Mexico: Diego Maradona (Argentina)
1990 FIFA World Cup- Italy: Salvatore Schillaci (Italy)
1994 FIFA World Cup- USA: Romario (Brazil)
1998 FIFA World Cup- France: Ronaldo (Brazil
2002 FIFA World Cup- Korea / Japan: Oliver Kahn (Germany)
2006 FIFA World Cup- Germany: Zinedine Zidane (France)

FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG)
The FIFA Technical Study Group is headed up by Jean-Paul Brigger . Further prominent members of the TSG are Christian Karembeu, Humberto Grondona, Gérard Houllier, Holger Osieck, Leodegar Tenga, Gabriel Calderon, Alvin Corneal, Kwok Ka-Ming, Kalusha Bwalya, Ephraim Matsilele ‘Jomo’ Sono and Jim Selby.

The characteristics of the ten best players for the adidas Golden Ball as identified by the FIFA Technical Study Group (in alphabetical order):

David Villa (Spain No.7)
Top scorer; quick, two footed, very good on one-on-one situations, provides good final passes, excellent finisher

Asamoah Gyan (Ghana No.3)
Huge work rate, efficient, good dribbler, creates problems to each defence, good goal scorer

Andres Iniesta (Spain No.6)
Very fine ball-playing attacking midfielder, a star for the team, impressive dribbling ability

Lionel Messi (Argentina No.10)
Outstanding in his pace and creativity for his team, dribbling, shooting, passing – spectacular and efficient
Mesut Oezil (Germany No.8)
A real talent for the present and the future, quick feet and great vision, good final and decisive passes

Arjen Robben (Holland No.11)
Very good pace and dribbling skills, wonderful ability to cut inside from the right, effective to his team
Diego Forlan (Uruguay No.10)
Architect of the team’s attack, very influential, great impact for his team, provider of quality final passes, goal scorer, set pieces/shots from long range

Wesley Sneijder (Holland No.10)
A maestro in midfield, exceptional work rate, the engine of Netherland’s attacks, excellent passer and scorer
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany No.7)
Impressive by his first pass (forward and accurate), very good passer, has moments of individual brilliance, ball-winner

Xavi (Spain No.8)
The metronome and the engine of the Spanish team, very influential in the passing style of the game, one of the finest midfielders in the tournament