England stars nominated
Wednesday, 10 October, 2007
The Three Lions are well represented in the nominations for the FIFA World Player Of The Year award.
England v Estonia
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
3pm, Saturday 13 October 2007
Wembley Stadium
Live on BBC1
Tickets Buy Online
Four members of the England squad have been given a boost going into the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifying games against Estonia and Russia, with the news that they have been nominated for the FIFA World Player Of The Year award.
In the men’s section, captain John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are all in the shortlist of 30 for the award, which is decided by votes from all international Head Coaches and team captains.
As well as that, England star Kelly Smith has been named in the 26 strong Women’s category, where votes are compiled in the same fashion through coaches and captains of all the national teams.
The top three contenders will be announced by FIFA at the start of December, before the winner of the 2007 accolade will be revealed at the FIFA World Player Gala at the Zurich Opera House on 17 December.
The shortlist of candidates for these prestigious awards have been drawn up by football experts from the Technical and Development Committee, the Football Committee, the Committee for Women’s Football and the FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as women’s football specialists on other FIFA committees.
The following men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA World Player of the Year 2007: -
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d'Ivoire), Michael Essien (Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Steven Gerrard (England), Thierry Henry (France), Juninho (Brazil), Kaká (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Frank Lampard (England), Rafael Márquez (Mexico), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Alessandro Nesta (Italy), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina), Ronaldinho (Brazil), Wayne Rooney (England), John Terry (England), Carlos Tévez (Argentina), Lilian Thuram (France), Fernando Torres (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands) and Patrick Vieira (France).
The following 26 women (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the title of FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year 2007:-
Nadine Angerer (Germany), Adjoa Bayor (Ghana), Cristiane (Brazil), Daniela (Brazil), Lisa de Vanna (Australia), Formiga (Brazil), Christie George (Nigeria), Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (Norway), Duan Han (China), Ariane Hingst (Germany), Jie Li (China), Kristine Lilly (USA), Renate Lingor (Germany), Marta (Brazil), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Bente Nordby (Norway), Cathrine Paaske Sörensen (Denmark), Birgit Prinz (Germany), Un Suk Ri (Korea DPR), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Kelly Smith (England), Rebecca Smith (New Zealand), Ane Stangeland Horpestad (Norway), Kerstin Stegemann (Germany), Ingvild Stensland (Norway) and Abby Wambach (USA).
A few tickets are still available for the match at Wembley this Saturday, to buy online click here.