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Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Rodri. .. oh, and a West Brom hero, of course

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All the big names in football are, predictably, available for selection in the world team of the year. .. with one particularly eyebrow-raising inclusion among the nominees at centre-forward Voting is now open for the absurdly-named FIFA The Best Awards across a number of categories, but it's the Men's XI that has caught our attention. All the big names you'd expect are in there: Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Lamine Yamal, Viktor Gyokeres. And in among them is a former 35-year-old Premier League journeyman who is currently tearing it up in Mexico: Salomon Rondon. Yes, that Salomon Rondon (born on a Mondon), formerly of West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United and Everton. The striker is now playing back in his native Venezuela with Pachuca and has been in something approaching electric form in the Liga MX with Pachuca. Rondon netted 19 times in 28 appearances last season, and has five goals in 13 appearance so far this campaign. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. Other interesting shouts among the nominees include Celtic and Canada full-back Alistair Johnston; Empoli and New Zealand left-back Liberato Cacace; former Watford centre-back William Troost-Ekong; Al Ain and Morocco forward Soufiane Rahimi; and Qatari winger Akram Afif. Respectfully, it's not quite so much the FIFA The Best so much as it's the FIFA Sop To Each Of The Conferations, is it? Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,  We Are Terriers. com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023. Manchester City and Newcastle owners face ban from English football in amendment to Football Governance Bill Rodri reveals the reason Manchester City loves playing Liverpool and makes totally unique prediction for the future of the game: exclusive NEW ISSUE: Rodri exclusive PLUS Emma Hayes, Sven, Sharpe, Skrtel, Savage, Watkins, the world’s best players and Keown answers your questions! Four Four Two is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. ©

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