European Footballer Of The Year

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**Golden Ball nominees announced

Previous Winners: **

2002: Ronaldo
2001: Michael Owen
2000: Luis Figo
1999: Rivaldo
1998: Zinedine Zidane
1997: Ronaldo
1996: Matthias Sammer
1995: George Weah
1994: Hristo Stoitchkov
1993: Roberto Baggio

David Beckham is one of four English players who have been nominated for the prestigious European footballer of the year award.

The England captain is joined on the list of 50 nominees by compatriots Sol Campbell, Paul Scholes and 2001 winner Michael Owen.

Ten Premiership players have also made the list which is selected by France Football magazine.

Including Beckham, there are eight players from Real Madrid on the 50-strong shortlist.

Scottish football is represented by the inclusion of Celtic forward Henrik Larsson.

The winner will be selected in December in the magazine’s annual poll of football journalists from around the world.

France and Italy lead the way with nine nominations each while five Brazilians made the shortlist.

Arsenal have a total of five players up for the award - Campbell plus the French quartet of Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.

Manchester United and Chelsea have to settle for two nominations each with Claude Makelele and Adrian Mutu making the cut for Claudio Ranieri’s men.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes are the Old Trafford players on the list.

Current European footballer of the year Ronaldo will become the first non-European to win the award three times if he holds onto his title.

**The full shortlist: **

Pablo Aimar (Argentina - Valencia)
Michael Ballack (Germany - Bayern Munich)
David Beckham (England - Real Madrid)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy - Juventus)
Sol Campbell (England - Arsenal)
Iker Casillas (Spain - Real Madrid)
Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine - AC Milan)
Christian Chivu (Romania - AS Roma)
Deco (Portugal - FC Porto)
Alessandro Del Piero (Italy - Juventus)
Dida (Brazil - Milan AC)
Giovane Elber (Brazil - Lyon)
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon - Mallorca)
Luis Figo (Portugal - Real Madrid)
Ludovic Giuly (France - Monaco)
Thierry Henry (France - Arsenal)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden - Ajax)
Filippo Inzaghi (Italy - AC Milan)
Oliver Kahn (Germany - Bayern Munich)
Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands - Barcelona)
Jan Koller (Czech Republic - Borussia Dortmund)
Darko Kovacevic (Serbia & Montenegro - Real Sociedad)
Henrik Larsson (Sweden - Celtic)
Roy Makaay (Netherlands - Bayern Munich)
Claude Makelele (France - Chelsea)
Paolo Maldini (Italy - AC Milan)
Adrian Mutu (Romania - Chelsea)
Pavel Nedved (Czech Repulic - Juventus)
Alessandro Nesta (Italy - AC Milan)
Nihat Kahveci (Turkey - Real Sociedad)
Michael Owen (England - Liverpool)
Pedro Miguel Pauleta (Portugal - Paris Saint-Germain)
Robert Pires (France - Arsenal)
Raul (Spain - Real Madrid)
Roberto Carlos (Brazil - Real Madrid)
Ronaldinho (Brazil - Barcelona)
Ronaldo (Brazil - Real Madrid)
Michel Salgado (Spain - Real Madrid)
Paul Scholes (England - Manchester United)
Lilian Thuram (France - Juventus)
Francesco Toldo (Italy - Inter Milan)
Francesco Totti (Italy - AS Roma)
Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia - Ajax)
David Trezeguet (France - Juventus)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands - Manchester United)
Patrick Vieira (France - Arsenal)
Christian Vieri (Italy - Inter Milan)
Sylvain Wiltord (France - Arsenal)
Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy - Juventus)
Zinedine Zidane (France - Real Madrid)

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How the hell did Wiltord make it to the nominations list? :D I'm guessing the judgs haven't seen him play the last couple of months :D

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Yeah Wiltord is pretty pathetic. Though most of the Arsenal players are - i think the only one who deserves to get a nomination is Henry. We didn't get a single nomination - damn i hope Beckham doesn't win - goddammit if he wins i'm gonna stop watching the Soccer. I obviously would want either Michael Ballack or Oliver Kahn to win. I think the favourite this year may well be Beckham though.

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Hopefully Ronaldo does it for the third time.

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I hope Ronaldo will NOT get it for the third time. In fact I´d prefer to see one of the rather new faces on top.

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most probably this year Pavel Nedved will be the winner.

He has had a fantastic year :k:

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a very good article from soccerage:

Just give it to Thierry (Getty Images)
11/15/2003. A cursory glance at some of the names on Uefa's much-vaunted "short-list" of 50 (yes, 50) nominees for the European Footballer Of The Year begs the question, just how long was the "long list?"

And what were the criteria for making it on to this list? Just being famous, presumably. By its sheer size the short-list is somewhat devalued, bloated by all the usual suspects. In fact I get the impression that after maybe the first half-dozen or, being charitable, dozen names of worthy contenders, the selectors were reduced to adding anyone else they could think of.

How else can you explain the presence, on this list of Europe's alleged elite, of Sylvain Wiltord? A few reasonable games for Les Bleus, OK; but most Gunners fans would be hard-pressed to find a place for Wiltord in a list of their top 50 current Arsenal players.

Those who find the whole idea of such awards and polls distasteful, like a kind of butch beauty contest, would also question the rationale behind including guys like Luis Figo, Giovane Elber, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Del Piero, Patrick Kluivert, Lilian Thuram, Filippo Inzaghi, Jan Koller, Henrik Larsson and even Zinedine Zidane and Roberto Carlos on the basis of their performances during 2003. Too many seem to have drifted onto the list purely on the strength of their past reputations. Maybe there should be a separate award for longevity to satisfy all the nostalgia buffs.

Others of course start with an unfair advantage in the quest for the Golden Ball. David Beckham, for example, is actually nicknamed "Golden Balls" by his shy and retiring wife Victoria. And his every kick, body-swerve, sneeze and knowing smile has received such blanket coverage from a ravenous media that many could be forgiven for believing Beckham has been the ONLY player in Europe all year.

It was inevitable that Ronaldo would feature on the list. His move to Real virtually guaranteed it; and to be fair the soon-to-be-divorced gap-toothed icon has produced some entertaining goalscoring feats despite continuing to eat all the pies. But will we be able to stay awake long enough to applaud if he wins the accolade again? Ronaldo's dentally-challenged compatriot Ronaldinho seems to be on the list largely because of memories of his 2002 World Cup exploits; ditto Sol Campbell, Oliver Kahn, Samuel Eto'o and Nihat Kahveci, perhaps? But it is a measure of how far Rivaldo has fallen from grace since moving to Milan that he doesn't even make the top 50.

Of course, football is all about opinions. It's one of the things that make the game so fascinating, so compelling and so endlessly debatable. Get 50 football fans together and you'll get 50 different views about who's good, who's bad and who's just plain ugly. It's part of the world-wide passion.

I've probably upset any number of people already with my own swipes at some of the hallowed names on this cumbersome and rather dubious list. And so far I haven't even mentioned the merits - or otherwise – of Iker Casillas (Real's attacking style tends to keep the ball away from him but when their defence is under pressure it – and he – usually buckle); Cristian Chivu (great potential, as yet unrealised); Dida and Mutu (same applies); Pauleta, Deco, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Darko Kovacevic, Ludovic Giuly, Michel Salgado, Hatem Trabelsi, Roy Makaay and Michael Owen (good players all, but included just to make up the numbers with no realistic chance of winning this year), etc, etc.

Picking the best player in each position to arrive at a symbolic if largely meaningless "Best European XI" might be an amusing diversion, because in a list of 50 names there is hardly any sensible, rational or objective basis for comparing a goalkeeper with a striker or a centre-back. They each perform specialist functions in what is, after all, a team game.

And it's goals that make the football world go round, so the goalscorers – strikers and attacking midfielders – always start with an edge of glamour that defenders are denied.

So who is the winner likely to be this year? There are 15 Serie A candidates, 10 of them Italian, and the smart money is already on Pavel Nedved of Juve and the Czech Republic. He wouldn't get my vote as I don't like his attitude, though he's certainly a hell of a player. (The same applies to Ruud Van Nistelrooy). If it has to be someone from the Italian League's finest I'd prefer to see Francesco Totti, Alessandro Nesta, or one of the keepers, Buffon or Toldo, get the nod. But assuming it's not a foregone conclusion and other Leagues are in with a shout, Raul is consistently devastating, Ballack tirelessly creative and Henry sheer balletic pace and power.

For purely partisan reasons, I'd give that Golden Ball to Henry. Which probably means it's Nedved's already. And if this article has infuriated the hell out of you, it just goes to show that in football as in life, one man's pizza supreme is another man's mouldy old dough.

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Yes NeSCio - i have to say Pavel Nedved is also one of the best - many reckon that had he have been playing against Milan in the Champions League final then Juventus would have actually won it - i mean what a battle it would have been between him and Gattuso ehy? Speaking of Gattuso he is truly the best player in Europe in my opinion - and he didn't even get a mention. He was amazing in that Champions League match - truly heroic stuff - he has undoubtedly been the best player over the year.

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the problem with Gattuse, Talha, is that he gets red-carded way too often. that is also my criticism to other defensive midfielders like Davids and Vieira. I personally favor def. midfielders like Pirlo, Emre, Van Bommel, Redondo: they got defensive qualities along with technical skills :k:

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NeSCio surprisingly enough as agressive as Gattusso is he very rarely does see red actually - obviously Viera does as he plays for Arsenal and all they ever seem to field these days are 10 assholes (barring Henry) who reckon they are above the laws of the games then get in trouble and moan about it. Gattusso does have his brushes with the law (on and off) and does get the odd ban here and there but overall is quite an unblemished charchter surprisingly - he is agressivebut controlled in that manor. And yeah you are fully right in the players you mentioned.