Iniesta and the 23 Players with a Shot at Player of the Year

Earlier today, FIFA released it's annual list of the possible contenders for it's year-end player of the year award.

In no particular order, here are the 23 tabbed by FIFA this year:

Casillas (Spain), David Villa (Spain), Iniesta (Spain), Xavi (Spain), Puyol (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Fabregas (Spain), Ozil (Germany), Muller (Germany), Scheinsteger (Germany), Lahm (Germany), Klose (Germany), Sneijder (Holland), Robben (Holland), Gyan (Gana), Drogba (Ivory Coast), Eto'o(Cameroon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Forlan (Uruguay), Messi (Argentina), Julio Cesar (Brazil), Dani Alves (Brazil), Maicon (Brazil)

There are clearly players on this list that everyone knows have no shot. In fact, there are only a few players who actually have a shot at it.

If we look at the World Cup as the best measuring stick, we can basically narrow the field down to the following players:

Forlan, Robben, Sneijder, Iniesta and Villa.

This will be the 20th edition of the award, and it will likely be a Spaniard lifting this trophy for the first time as well.

The Spanish have the most players on the list with seven, and when we look back at the history of the award during a World Cup year, the winning nation has also produced the FIFA Player of the Year (1994 Romario, 1998 Zidane, 2002 Ronaldo and 2006 Cannavaro).

So, go ahead and clear a space on your shelf for Villa or Iniesta, but really just Iniesta (don't tell Villa he has no shot).

FIFA also released its list for Female POY, with Marta likely taking her fifth title in a row.

FIFA finally also released its list for Manager of the Year with the following head men in the running:

Carlo Ancelotti

Vicente del Bosque

Alex Ferguson

Pep Guardiola

Joachim Low

Jose Mourinho

Oscar Tabarez

Louis Van Gaal

Bert Van Marqijk

Arsene Wenger