Five England players have been nominated for the prestigious European Footballer of the Year award.
John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole have all
been shortlisted for the Ballon d'or, which is currently held by Barcelona and
Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho.
The nominations were announced in the magazine France Football and the name of
the winner, decided by a panel of European journalists, will be unveiled on
November 27.
Of the 50 nominations, 17 are players from Premiership clubs, more
than any other league.
Champions Chelsea lead the pack, with Terry, Lampard, Cole, Michael Ballack,
Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Claude Makelele and Andriy Shevchenko all
shortlisted.
Cesc Fabregas, William Gallas, Jens Lehmann and Thierry Henry represent last
year's Champions League runners-up Arsenal, while Cristiano Ronaldo joins Rooney
as Manchester United's only other nominee.
Everton midfielder Tim Cahill has also been shortlisted.
Nominations: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Tim
Cahill (Everton), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Gregory
Coupet (Lyon), Cristiano Cris (Lyon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United),
Deco (Barcelona), Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Didier Drogba (Chelsea),
Michael Essien (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal),
William Gallas (Arsenal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Steven Gerrard
(Liverpool), Ludovic Giuly (Barcelona), Fabio Grosso (Inter Milan), Thierry
Henry (Arsenal), Juninho (Lyon), Kaka (AC Milan), Miroslav Klose (Werder
Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayer Munich), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Jens Lehmann
(Arsenal), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Edison Mendez (PSV
Eindhoven), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Lukas Podolski
(Bayern Munich), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Marseille), Ronaldinho
(Barcelona), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Wayne
Rooney (Manchester United), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger
(Bayern Munich), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Lilian
Thuram (Barcelona), Tiago (Lyon), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Fernando Torres
(Atletico Madrid), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan), David Villa (Valencia),
Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Zinedine Zidane (Retired).
