FIFA have named a 30-man shortlist for the 2007 World Player of Year award to be announced in Zurich on December 17th. The list included five players from Italy as Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso represented the 2006 world champions. Buffon's inclusion comes as a surprise to many as the Juventus goalkeeper spent most of the year in Serie B, while Serie A top scorer Francesco Totti did not feature. Brazil trio Kaka, Ronaldinho and Juninho were included, despite the fact that none of them played for the Selecao in the 2007 Copa America triumph. Chelsea's African duo Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Michael Essien (Ghana), along with Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon) were the only representatives from the Dark Continent. The votes are made by the coaches and captains of every national team, who are requested to select their top three footballers. FIFA World Player of the Year Nominees Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo France: Thierry Henry, Franck Ribery, Lillian Thuram, Patrick Vieira Argentina: Lionel Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez Brazil: Juninho, Kaka, Ronaldinho England: Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Frank Lampard Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco Germany: Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o Czech Republic: Petr Cech Ghana: Michael Essien Holland: Ruud van Nistelrooy Ivory Coast: Didier Drogba Mexico: Rafael Marquez Spain: Fernando Torres
