The race for the 2007 Ballon
d'Or is officially now on after France Football released the 50
names in contention for one of football's most coveted individual
accolades.
In England the award is better known as the European Footballer of
the Year and is received by the player considered to have impressed
the most over the previous year.
Eric Abidal (Barcelona), France.
Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Brazil.
David Beckham (LA Galaxy), England.
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham), Bulgaria.
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy.
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Italy.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.
Petr Cech (Chelsea), Czech Republic.
Rogerio Ceni (San Paolo), Brazil.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United),
Portugal.
Deco (Barcelona), Portugal.
Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Mali.
Diego (Werder Bremen), Brazil.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.
Michael Essien (Chelsea), Ghana.
Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cameroon.
Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.
Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Italy.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England.
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Wales.
Thierry Henry (Barcelona), France.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Sweden.
Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Italy.
Kaka (Milan), Brazil.
Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla), Mali.
Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Germany.
Younis Mahmoud (Algharafa), Iraq.
Paolo Maldini (Milan), Italy.
Florent Malouda (Chelsea), France.
Lionel Andres Messi (Barcelona), Argentina.
Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic), Japan.
Guillermo Ochoa (America Mexico), Mexico.
Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Italy.
Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Portugal.
Raul (Real Madrid), Spain.
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), France.
Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Argentina.
Robinho (Real Madrid), Brazil.
Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Brazil.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.
Paul Scholes (Manchester United), England.
Clarence Seedorf (Milan), Holland.
Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Argentina.
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.
Kolo Toure (Arsenal), Ivory Coast.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain.
Francesco Totti (Roma), Italy.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Holland.
Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Holland.
David Villa (Valencia), Spain.
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The Premier League is well represented as 15 players currently
plying their trade in England are included, while Barcelona's
Thierry Henry is also in contention largely for his performances
for Arsenal and France.
Manchester United's famed attack is celebrated as Wayne Rooney,
Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Paul Scholes are
all in, while Liverpool are represented by Steven Gerrard and
Fernando Torres.
Arsenal too are not shy of nominees as Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas
and Robin van Persie get the nod.
Didier Drogba's future at Chelsea may have been cast into doubt of
late but what cannot be disputed is that the Ivorian has enjoyed a
fantastic year and he is joined in the long short-list by
team-mates Florent Malouda, Michael Essien and Petr Cech.
The sublimely talented Dimitar Berbatov is another nominee, proving
Tottenham can break into the top four in at least one category.
