Goal.com’s KS Leong looks at whether Barca’s Three Musketeers are worthy to be crowned the best players of 2010.

Ballon D'or Award

It was announced on Monday that Barcelona trio Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi have been nominated as the top three candidates for the FIFA Ballon d’Or, as voted by coaches and captains of national teams and a panel of global journalists.

Although this is the first year that FIFA’s World Player of the Award award has merged with France Football’s Ballon d’Or, it is the third time that three players from the same club will finish as the best three footballers of the year after the great Milan side of the late 80’s completely dominated proceedings in the 1988 and 1989 editions of the Ballon d’Or.

But as always, there will be debates and contentious arguments regarding the finalists. Many believe that Inter and Netherlands playmaker Wesley Sneijder should have been in the top three at the very least, and even perhaps a worthy winner.

Diego Forlan single-handedly carried Atletico Madrid to Europa League glory last season, and he did likewise with Uruguay in South Africa 2010, leading his country to a respectable fourth-place finish at the World Cup with some spectacular goals.

Then there’s Iker Casillas and Julio Cesar, two goalkeepers who performed miracles for club and country throughout 2010. But should any of those four, or any of the others for that matter, in the initial 23-man shortlist who deserve to be in the final three more than Iniesta, Messi and Xavi?

Iniesta’s inclusion will perhaps draw the most mixed reception. The attacking midfielder spent the first half of 2010 nursing a niggling injury and as a result, his performances were below his usual high standards. But the extra rests that he picked up along the way turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he has become the only star player who featured in the final of the World Cup to carry his form into the new league season.

Lionel Messi failed to carry Argentina far into the World Cup, but his form for Barcelona has been simply sublime in the whole of the calendar year: 54 goals in 47 club games in 2010 up until the final three shortlist was announced, including six hat-tricks. If the Ballon d’Or is part recognition and reward for consistency, then Little Leo deserves to retain the gong he won last year.

Since finishing second in the 2008 edition, Messi’s level has not dropped one bit. If anything, he has been steadily improving, not just in his goal ratio, but his all-round performance. And that doesn’t include the mesmerizing exhibitions and masterclasses that he puts on every time he steps onto the pitch.

There is hardly a more consistent player in world football at the moment. But if there is a challenger, then it has to be Xavi.

The midfield maestro is a real critics’ and players’ favorite. Not always as dazzling on eye as Messi and Iniesta, he is a footballer that you have to truly analyze and dig up some numbers to appreciate and admire his craft.

He didn’t score at the World Cup, he doesn’t bag hat-tricks, he doesn’t dribble past walls of defenders every week. He is a player who consistently strings close to 100 passes together match after match, he covers well over 10 kilometers per game, and his vision and passing range is incomparable.

The Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year accolades have always stirred up debates amongst fans in the past. Don’t expect it to be any different this year now that the awards have merged.

If you’re still craving more Spanish omelet, the top three coaches who are vying for the managerial equivalent of the award are all currently in Spanish football: World Cup winner Vicente del Bosque, Barca’s master conductor Pep Guardiola, and Inter’s treble winner and now property of Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho.

(source: by KS Leong, www.goal.com)