Spaniards reign Golden Ball nominations

Johannesburg, Jul 10: In the Golden Ball nominees list released by FIFA on Friday, Jul 10, Spaniards dominated the nominations claiming three spots out of the ten while their finalist opponent Netherlands stood along side the contenders for the third spot, Germany, with two nominations each.

The three players nominated from the fiery Spain team include Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa. From Netherlands, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, the outperforming forces to reckon with, have made it to the list.

Spain and Netherlands will clash on Sunday, Jul 11 to lift the holy grail of football for the first time ever.

Germany, which is set to play against Uruguay for the third spot in the 2010 world cup, enjoys two nominations - Mesut Oezil and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Both the midfielders have sent shivers down the spines of their opponents with their electrifying performances in the tournament.

Diego Forlan, the 31-year-old forward who will be missing the tie-up against Germany, is the only one nominated from the South American team.

Two other nominations come from Ghana and Argentina. Lionel Messi, the Barcelona forward, who has already pocketed the player of the year 2009, stands for Argentina while Ghanian forward Asamoah Gyan has claimed the other spot among the ten shortlisted.

On the whole, only players of six countries out of the 32 teams, which started off in the group stages, have made it to the ten-man list for the award, which is given to the best player of the tournament.

The Golden Ball winner will be announced after the finals between Spain and Netherlands.

OneIndia News