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When Six Premier League Players Featured In The 2009 FIFpro World XI

When Six Premier League Players Featured In The 2009 FIFpro World XI

How things have changed...

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

'The Best' FIFA football awards officially get underway at 5pm today as the usual suspects get ready to step up and receive an award.

Arguably the most eagerly anticipated award is the FIFPro Team of the Year - an XI of the best performing players in world football. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will undoubtedly feature from La Liga, but what about Premier League talent?

Can we expect any PL based players to feature in the 2016 FIFpro world XI?

From 2010, the Premier League's presence in these TOTY squads is quite frankly appalling. In 2011, only two players from the English top flight were included (Rooney and Vidic)

Vidic
Vidic

We thought we'd go back to the time when six, i repeat, six Premier League players were included in this prestigious world XI.

John Terry, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and the only La Liga defender Dani Alves made up the back four, as Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard joined Xavi and Iniesta in midfield.

Gerrard's teammate Fernando Torres, who had scored 17 goals in the 2008/09 season, joined Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the starting XI.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Defenders: Dani Alves (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
Midfielders: Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool). Xavi (Barcelona)
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Real Madrid). Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Image result for fifpro 2009 team
Image result for fifpro 2009 team


But the reality is, only one player has featured in four consecutive years, and Angel Di Maria had just begun his Manchester United career when he was inducted back in 2014.

When Rooney and Vidic featured in the FIFpro world XI from 2011

DDD
DDD

Every FIFPro world XI since 2010 shows the severe lack of Premier League presence.

It total, 15 Premier League players were included in the final 55-man shortlist, including the only English player Jamie Vardy, while Paul Pogba, Sergio Aguero and Zlatan Ibrahimovic predictably feature.

2016 FIFpro world Xi shortlist

Goalkeepers (5): Claudio Bravo (Chile/FC Barcelona/Manchester City), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus), David de Gea (Spain/Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid) and Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern Munich).

Defenders (20): David Alaba (Austria/FC Bayern Munich), Jordi Alba (Spain/FC Barcelona), Serge Aurier (Côte d'Ivoire/Paris Saint-Germain), Héctor Bellerìn (Spain/Arsenal), Jérôme Boateng (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy/Juventus), Daniel Carvajal (Spain/Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy/Juventus), Dani Alves (Brazil/FC Barcelona/Juventus), David Luiz (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain/Chelsea), Diego Godín (Uruguay/Atlético Madrid), Mats Hummels (Germany/Borussia Dortmund/FC Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Brazil/Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Pepe (Portugal/Real Madrid), Gerard Piqué (Spain/FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Brazil/Paris Saint-Germain) and Raphaël Varane (France/Real Madrid).

Midfielders (15): Xabi Alonso (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Sergio Busquets (Spain/FC Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Belgium/Chelsea), Andrés Iniesta (Spain/FC Barcelona), N'Golo Kanté (France/Leicester City/Chelsea) Toni Kroos (Germany/Real Madrid), Luka Modrić (Croatia/Real Madrid), Mesut Özil (Germany/Arsenal), Dimitri Payet (France/West Ham United), Paul Pogba (France/Juventus/Manchester United), Ivan Rakitić (Croatia/FC Barcelona), David Silva (Spain/Manchester City), Marco Verratti (Italy/Paris Saint-Germain) and Arturo Vidal (Chile/FC Bayern Munich).

Strikers (15): Sergio Agüero (Argentina/Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Paulo Dybala (Argentina/Juventus), Antoine Griezmann (France/Atlético Madrid), Gonzalo Higuaín (Argentina/Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden/Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/FC Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona), Thomas Müller (Germany/FC Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona), Alexis Sánchez (Chile/Arsenal), Luis Suárez (Uruguay/FC Barcelona) and Jamie Vardy (England/Leicester City)

Aguero
Aguero

Can the Premier League finally attain a place in the FIFpro world Xi this year, or are we going to see another La Liga whitewash?

Let us know your thoughts.


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