England trio on world player shortlist
Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard up for Fifa award
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Thursday, 12, Oct 2006 11:01
Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have ensured there will be three English representatives in contention for this year's prestigious world player of the year award after being named on Fifa's 30-man shortlist.
Chelsea midfielder Lampard, second in last year's voting behind Barcelona's Ronaldinho, is joined by club-mates Michael Ballack, Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Andriy Shevchenko, ensuring the Blues are the most represented club in the shortlist.
Rooney is joined by fellow Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo on the list while Arsenal contribute three players in the shape of Jens Lehmann, Tomas Rosicky and Thierry Henry.
The Gunners skipper is said to be in a two-horse race for this year's top prize with Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.
As is tradition, this list of candidates has been drawn up by football experts from different Fifa committees and now the head coaches and captains of all national teams will vote for their best players from the shortlist.
The winner will be announced at the 16th Fifa world player gala taking place at the famed Zurich Opera House in Switzerland on December 18th.
Additional prizes will also be awarded to the best three players from this summer's World Cup - Zinedine Zidane, Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo - the top scorers - Miroslav Klose, Hernan Crespo and Ronaldo - the two fairest teams - Brazil and Spain - and the outstanding goalkeeper - Gianluigi Buffon.
Fifa world player of the year shortlist:
Adriano (Inter Milan, Brazil), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Luis Figo (Inter Milan, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany), Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Marseille, France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan, France), Zinedine Zidane (retired, France).