Later today, the 47th Ballon d'Or winner will be announced by France Football magazine from their Paris offices with four players in particular leading the race to be crowned European Footballer of the Year.

 

The Ballon d'Or is the European Footballer of the Year award chosen by the football writers of the highly respected magazine, as well as by a select number of journalists from around the continent. The trophy was first awarded in 1956 when Blackpool's Stanley Matthews was chosen and between 1956 and 1995, only players born in Europe were eligible.

However, that rule was amended in 1995 when George Weah of AC Milan became the first non-European footballer to be recognised as the best footballer in the continent.

Those selecting the 50-strong short list and eventual winner take into account a players achievements on the field of play between the 16th December 2001 and 2002, with special emphasis placed on performances in UEFA's two club competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, for one's national team that year and for your club in domestic competitions.

 

Last year's winner, England and Liverpool striker Michael Owen, had enjoyed a spectacular season with his club in 2000/1, with his goals helping them to win a treble of cup competitions, including the UEFA Cup, as well as finishing fourth in the Premiership.

And (as if we need to remind you) he also scored a memorable hat-trick for his country in Munich's Olympiastadion to propel England towards the 2002 World Cup finals.

Last month, France Football announced its short list of 50 players from which the winner will be chosen. They are:

Pablo Aimar, Sonny Anderson, Michael Ballack, Rubén Baraja, Yildiray Bastürk, David Beckham, Cafu, Djibril Cissé, Alessandro Del Piero, Papa Bouba Diop, El Hadji Diouf, Edmilson, Rio Ferdinand, Luis Figo, Ryan Giggs, Hasan Sas, Thierry Henry, Iker Casillas, Junichi Inamoto, Filippo Inzaghi, Oliver Kahn, Miroslav Klose, Patrick Kluivert, Lucio, Luis Enrique, Roy Makaay, Claude Makelele, Paolo Maldini, Michael Owen, Pauleta, Raúl González, Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Tomáš Rosický, Saviola, Bernd Schneider, Seol Ki-Hyeon, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Francesco Totti, David Trezeguet, Juan Carlos Valerón, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Ruud van Nistelrooij, Patrick Vieira, Christian Vieri, Marc Wilmots, Sylvain Wiltord, Zinedine Zidane.

Here's a closer look at the four leading candidates...

Name: Ronaldo
Club(s): Internazioanle FC and Real Madrid CF
Nationality: Brazilian 2001/02
Achievements: FIFA 2002 World Cup winner and Golden Boot winner with eight goals (the highest total in the competition since 1974), including both in the final as Brazil beat Germany 2-0. Selected in the 2002 FIFA
All-Star squad of the tournament and short-listed for the FIFA Golden Ball.
Previous awards: 1996 and 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year and short-listed for this year's award
1998 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball
1997 Ballon D'Or/1996/97 Golden Boot winner in Europe.
Comment: Barely played a match for his club Inter due to persistent knee injuries and as a result, made little impact on the club scene before joining Madrid in July. However, considering his lack of competitive football, his achievements in being top scorer in Korea/Japan are all the more remarkable.
Has made a slow start to his career at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Probability: High, especially as he will gain many sympathy votes following his dreadful run with injuries since 1998, although not from Thierry Henry, who recently questioned his nomination by saying: "I don't think Ronaldo has been the best player in Europe this year."
That sentiment was shared by his club manager Arsène Wenger, who claimed that: "Ronaldo was the player of the World Cup but has not played much before or after. The World Cup is three weeks and the year is 52 weeks". People's favourite.

Name: Roberto Carlos
Club(s): Real Madrid CF
Nationality: Brazilian 2001/02
Achievements: UEFA Champions League winner for a third time, scorer in Madrid's victory over Feyenoord in the Super Cup final and won his second Intercontinental Club Cup.
Also played every game as he won his first World Cup winners medal with Brazil having been a losing finalist in 1998.
Selected in the 2002 FIFA All-Star squad of the tournament and short-listed for the FIFA Golden Ball.
Previous awards: None
Comment: Apart from winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey, there was nothing much left to win for the left-back who would crown what has already been a fantastic year by picking up this individual award.His astute quick thinking via a long throw-in led to Raúl González's opening goal in the 2002 European Cup final.
Probability: Defenders tend not to win this award, with the obvious exceptions of Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer, but the noises emanating from Paris in recent weeks have been encouraging with regard to Carlos, who would be a more than deserving recipient, a thought endorsed by rival Henry when he said: "Roberto Carlos should be rewarded one day or the other".

 

Name: Zinedine Zidane
Club(s): Real Madrid CF
Nationality: French 2001/02
Achievements: Scored the winning goal in the Champions League final in Glasgow against Bayer Leverkusen, one of the all-time great European Cup final goals, and also picked up the Super Cup and the Toyota Cup with the Merengues.
But France, as the holders, did not score a goal or win a match as they were eliminated at the group stages of the World Cup.
Previous awards: 1998 and 2000 World Player of the Year and short-listed for 2002 award
1998 European Footballer of the Year.
Comment: Like Roberto Carlos, has won a hatful of trophies with Madrid in 2001/02. However crucially arrived at the World Cup carrying a thigh injury and hence only played a minor part as the holders France were unceremoniously dumped out before the knock out stages.
Probability: The fact that he played just the one match in the World Cup, the biggest football tournament in the world played only once every four years, will ultimately count against the player who was still nonetheless the most creative and influential midfielder in Europe in 2002.
However, his team-mate and compatriot Henry clearly thinks him deserving of the award, recently saying: "When you see the goal scored by Zidane in the Champions League final it means something".

Name: Thierry Henry
Club(s): Arsenal FC
Nationality: French 2001/02
Achievements: League and FA Cup Double with Arsenal, top scorer in the Premiership with 24 goals
Previous awards: None
Comment: His manager, Arsène Wenger, certainly believes he should win the award, saying after the Frenchman had scored two more brilliant goals against Aston Villa in the Premiership recently: "He's in contention certainly."
However, counting against him will be his and his country's limited impact at last summer's World Cup, where Henry was sent off against Uruguay and failed to score in three games.
In addition, Henry's club, Arsenal, did not make it past the second group stages of the continent's premier club competition, despite Henry's seven goals in 12 Champions League games.
Probability: Small to non-existent, although regular watchers of the Premiership will be amazed that he does not win.

Previous winners:
1956 Stanley MATTHEWS (Eng) Blackpool
1957 Alfredo DI STÉFANO (Spa [*]) Real Madrid
1958 Raymond KOPA (Fra) Real Madrid
1959 Alfredo DI STÉFANO (Spa [*]) Real Madrid
1960 Luis SUÁREZ (Spa) Barcelona
1961 Omar SIVORI (Ita [*]) Juventus
1962 Josef MASOPUST (Cze) Dukla Praha
1963 Lev YASHIN (SU) Dynamo Moskva
1964 Denis LAW (Sco) Manchester United
1965 EUSÉBIO (Por) Benfica
1966 Bobby CHARLTON (Eng) Manchester United
1967 Flórián ALBERT (Hun) Ferencváros
1968 George BEST (Nil) Manchester United
1969 Gianni RIVERA (Ita) Milan
1970 Gerd MÜLLER (Ger) Bayern München
1971 Johan CRUIJFF (Net) Ajax
1972 Franz BECKENBAUER (Ger) Bayern München
1973 Johan CRUIJFF (Net) Barcelona
1974 Johan CRUIJFF (Net) Barcelona
1975 Oleg BLOKHIN (SU) Dynamo Kiev
1976 Franz BECKENBAUER (Ger) Bayern München
1977 Alan SIMONSEN (Den) Borussia Mönchengladbach
1978 Kevin KEEGAN (Eng) Hamburger SV
1979 Kevin KEEGAN (Eng) Hamburger SV
1980 Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Ger) Bayern München
1981 Karl-Heinz RUMMENIGGE (Ger) Bayern München
1982 Paolo ROSSI (Ita) Juventus
1983 Michel PLATINI (Fra) Juventus
1984 Michel PLATINI (Fra) Juventus
1985 Michel PLATINI (Fra) Juventus
1986 Igor BELANOV (SU) Dynamo Kiev
1987 Ruud GULLIT (Net) Milan
1988 Marco VAN BASTEN (Net) Milan
1989 Marco VAN BASTEN (Net) Milan
1990 Lothar MATTHÄUS (Ger) Internazionale
1991 Jean-Pierre PAPIN (Fra) Olympique Marseille
1992 Marco VAN BASTEN (Net) Milan
1993 Roberto BAGGIO (Ita) Juventus
1994 Hristo STOITCHKOV (Bul) Barcelona
1995 George WEAH (Lib) Milan
1996 Matthias SAMMER (Ger) Borussia Dortmund
1997 RONALDO (Bra) Internazionale
1998 Zinedine ZIDANE (Fra) Juventus
1999 RIVALDO (Bra) Barcelona
2000 Luis FIGO (Por) Real Madrid
2001 Michael OWEN (Eng) Liverpool
[*] Di Stéfano and Sivori were born in Argentina and first played for that country.

Stay logged for for news of the winner later today or tomorrow morning...