Best player in the world?

[Vidic]

The race for the award will be decided in a few weeks time, meanwhile Kaka won the honour of being named Europe's best player between him, Messi and Ronaldo. Who would you say is the best in the world? All three are amazing players with flair, technique and all strike fear into the opposition. For me, it would be Ronaldo as he was the spearhead in our league championship last season but kaka did win the champions league. Your opinion?

[RedRabbit]

What's the judging critera?
e.g. how can you compare a midfielder in Spain with a striker in Germany for instance. Do you just have to play for a "big" club or win a major honour? Can you win it without first winning a trophy or being uncapped?

It's based on votes from coaches and captains of international teams. They have 3 votes, each worth 5pts. So really just based on what name you're more familiar with.

There is criticism because all the nominees are always players from European clubs, but it can be counter argued that the best players end up playing in Europe after all.

This years nominees are :
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Juninho (Brazil), Kaká (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Frank Lampard (England), Rafael Márquez (Mexico), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Alessandro Nesta (Italy), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Carlos Tévez (Argentina), Lilian Thuram (France), Fernando Torres (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands) and Patrick Vieira (France).