It was a night to remember. The best football players in the World on one stage. It happened on 21 December 2009 in Zürich, Switzerland during the presentation of the FIFA/FIFPro World XI 2009.
For the fifth time FIFPro organized the vote for World XI. The World Players' Union sent out 55 thousand ballots to professional footballers worldwide. An impressive number of 22.680 players responded by filling in their forms and putting them in the ballot boxes. As a result FIFPro and FIFA managed to present the best eleven players in the World their trophy in Zürich.
The FIFA/FIFPro World XI of 2009:
Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid);
Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra (both Manchester United);
Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Xavi and Andrés Iniesta (both Barcelona);
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool).
Seven of the eleven players also made the FIFPro World XI of 2007/08. Four players were picked for the first time: Barcelona's Daniel Alves and Andrés Iniesta, and Manchester United's Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic. All four played in the Champions League final of 2009. Unfortunately Evra and Vidic were not able to collect their award due to personal circumstances.
John Terry succeeded for the fifth time to join the World XI. The captain of Chelsea is the only player in the World that has been elected each time FIFPro has organized the vote. Steven Gerrard, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made it to the team for the third time in a row.
European champions and recently crowned World champions Barcelona are the team with the most representatives in the FIFA/FIFPro World XI. Four Azulgranas received their award in Switzerland: Alves, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. The latter was even crowned as Best Male Player in the World, moments later at the FIFA World Player Gala.
Once again Spain is the country that provided the most players. This year 4 Spanish footballers are named in the World XI. Last year Spain set a record with 5 representatives.