Some midfielders are born to play the position. Barcelona and Spain's Ballon D'or winner Xavi comes to mind. There's plenty to say about a player like Xavi, who was seemingly handed the keys to the middle of the pitch at birth. But that's not a topic for me to tackle, not today anyway. No, today we're going to look at a player who took a decidedly more circuitous route to the middle of the park.

Its a given isn't it - surely Messi, the bookies favourite, is going to take home the Ballon d'Or for the second year running?

• As this video shows, he scored three hat tricks in a week (10 in total)
• Last season he scored 47 goals in 53 games
• This season he has already scored 27 goals in 23 games (17 in 14 just in the League)
• He has scored 55 goals in the 2010 alone
• He broke his own record this season by scoring in 10 consecutive games
• The record ended when Barca bear Real Madrid 5-0.

Mario Balotelli has not made a lot of friends since leaving Inter Milan for Manchester City this summer. His comments after being named the best young player in Europe will do nothing to add to his reputation as the most egotistical player in football.

Balotelli was named the Golden Boy winner, which is organised by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by journalists across Europe to recognise the most talented player Under 21.

Although Lionel Messi is most likely the front-runner for the Ballon d'Or in the eyes of many fans, the Argentinian believes that it is Xavi or Iniesta that deserve the prestigious award. The fact that Xavi and Iniesta not only performed in Club level but also for the Spain National, in which they took home the World Cup, Messi feels that these two are more deserving than him for the Ballon d'Or award.

Gazzetta dello Sport Juve Quaglia everything It finished 3-1 in Catania Quagliarella scores twice and the referee doesn't see a valid third goal The ball crossed the line Pepe also scored Juve are third, six points off the top Zanetti: 'It's absurd Sneijder isn't in the top three for the Ballon d'Or' Sacchi: 'No one like Milan in the title race'.

Xavi, Iniesta, and Leo Messi are the three nominees for FIFA's Ballon D'Or award for player of the year. Thus, underlining the overwhelming quality of Barca's football.

Even with Real Madrid stuffing its ranks with high priced quality, the Catulanyan club managed to pull of another domestic league title winning both the Clasicos and also sending seven players to the World Cup.

Although many people feel that the Ballon D'Or should go to either Messi, Xavi or Andres Iniesta, there is one man who went on to say that none of these three players are worthy of winning this prestigious award.

After all three players were called out as the last three runners for the Ballon D'Or, Inter Milan president, Massimo Moratti, went on to make his feelings known.

Bale who?

On a day when the nominees for FIFA's Ballon d'Or is announced, there's a big chance for someone at Arsenal to join that esteemed list next year. Barcelona may have dominated this year's award when they have 3 of their own in the top 3, namely Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta and Xavi but might have to sit back and accept that an Arsenal player may just sneak into the list this time next year.

It looks as if our World Cup win is still having consequences... the candidates for this years FIFA/France Football awards have just been given, and not only are Xavi and Iniesta in the three-men shortlist for the prestigious Ballon D'Or (alongside Messi), but Our Wise Walrus stands besides José Mourinho [read more]

As you heard this morning, the Barcelona trio of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi were named the finalists for the prestigious Ballon d'Or given the World Player of the Year. As tough as it is to argue with any of those three selections, I can't help but wonder who most SBI readers would pick for 2010 World Player of the Year.

So short it's got an average height of 169.33 cm. That's almost a real person.

And it's decidedly Barcelona heavy. Actually, they might as well just hold the ceremony at the Camp Nou in their training tracksuits during a lull in cone work, with Pep making speeches scratched on scrap paper next to tactical notes whilst everyone's sucking on orange slices.

Kuba Is A Fan Favorite At Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund's Jakub Blaszczykowski has won Polish Player of the Year after turning in some impressive performances at both club and international level. In the 09/10 season, Kuba, as he is known for short, scored four league goals and contributed a few assists.

The three nominees for FIFA's top award, the Ballon d'Or, have been announced and all come from the same team. Barcelona players Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi have been nominated for this world player of the year award because of the success they have had on the field. Xavi and Iniesta helped Spain [.

The finalists were selected Monday for the soccer's most prestigious individual award and they came up Barca, Barca, Barca.

King Wesley almost nailed four crowns on the year....

Argentinian Lionel Messi joined two midfield Spaniards, Xavi and Iniesta on the final ballot for the world's best player trophy, the Ballon d'Or.

The trio of finalistsFIFA have finally announced the three players which will be competing for this year's Ballon d'Or! While I have always believed that Wesley Sneijder would win this award, it seems like FIFA has decided that the Dutch player shouldn't even be amongst the finalists.
It's nice to see that FIFA have finally given recognition to Xavi and Iniesta, two very underrated players which create ridiculous amounts of goals for their club and country.

Who needs the Ballon d'Or when you can hand out a little garbage?

Overshadowing the shortlist announcement of the biggest award in world football yesterday is the announcement of the best: the Bidone d'Oro (Golden Trash Can), for Serie A's most useless player.

It's a joke, but damnit does it say so much.

By Saheli RC, writing from Singapore

If you are a football club, what do you do when your fiercest rival manages to get three of its youth academy players nominated for the Ballon d'Or at the same time? Do you a) Make an inspirational video showcasing the strength of your own cantera; b) Give two of your cantera boys their debuts with the first team; c) Meticulously update your cantera team profiles on the club website or d) All of the above?

Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta are the the final three shortlisted for the award. If it wasn't for the women's award, the ceremony will probably be held at Nou Camp to save the traveling cost.

The last time a non-World Cup winning player to win the Ballon d'Or in a World Cup year was in 1994 and the player was Hristo Stoichkov while he was playing for Barcelona.

The news that January's Ballon d'Or will be handed to one of the three musketeers, Andres Iniesta, Leo Messi or Xavi Hernandez, is significant in various ways.

Saheli RC, writing from Singapore

A large part of football's charm lie in its ability to provide a continuous supply of drama for viewers on and off the pitch. Whether it involves Barça signing a kit sponsorship deal for the first time in its history or Zlatan Ibrahimovic proudly declaring he doesn't care about the Ballon d'Or or Big Sam's shockingly calm statement following his sack, one thing is certain: without drama, football fans would be miserable.

In terms of his mouth and self-confidence, Mario Balotelli may be the pound-for-pound best in the world, with even Cristiano Ronaldo looking the beacon of humility in comparison.

And then they gave Mario Balotelli an award the Golden Boy Award, designed for the most talented player under-21, as decided by European journalists.

Mario Balotelli has not made a lot of friends since leaving Inter Milan for Manchester City this summer. His comments after being named the best young player in Europe will do nothing to add to his reputation as the most egotistical player in football.

Balotelli was named the Golden Boy winner, which is organised by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by journalists across Europe to recognise the most talented player Under 21.

Ballon d'Or ContenderAndreas Iniesta shows us why he's one of the best with this amazing piece of skill against Athletic Bilbao.

I apologise for being slow on the up-keep readers, but I have just come across an article (in the Guardian) in which Balotelli makes a complete arse of himself...

After winning the award a jornalist questioned the Manchester City striker on the player who was second best to him (Jack Whilshere) - his response is both ignorant and arrogant:

"What's his name?

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In Arsenal We Trust!

Another cold Monday night in London, as the Gunners come out at the Emirates to meet their London rivals and title contenders, Chelsea. With the weather disrupting 7 of the 10 games in the league last week, the threat still looms over this weekend. The players would have been rested quite well due to the unexpected break and the others just out of injury have got sufficient time to recuperate to achieve complete fitness.