ZURICH, (SW) - World governing body FIFA has released the shortlist of 30 candidates for the 2006 FIFA Men's Player of the Year Award.
World Cup finalists France and Italy both lead the way with five nominees apiece while Germany have four representatives after a fantastic display on home soil at the World Cup this past summer.
Although not a favorite to claim the award, Ronaldinho has a chance to claim his third straight title after being named on the list as one of three Brazilians nominated.
Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon is the only player nominated that did not play at the World Cup, while World Cup Golden Ball winner Zinedine Zidane - who is now retired - is also up for the award which will be handed on 18 December.
The list of 30 nominess is as follows:
Adriano, Brazil
Michael Ballack, Germany
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy
Fabio Cannavaro, Italy
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Petr Cech, Czech Republic
Deco, Portugal
Didier Drogba, Côte d'Ivoire
Michael Essien, Ghana
Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon
Luis Figo, Portugal
Gennaro Gattuso, Italy
Steven Gerrard, England
Thierry Henry, France
Kaká, Brazil
Miroslav Klose, Germany
Philipp Lahm, Germany
Frank Lampard, England
Jens Lehmann, Germany
Alessandro Nesta, Italy
Andrea Pirlo, Italy
Franck Ribéry, France
Juan Román Riquelme, Argentina
Ronaldinho, Brazil
Wayne Rooney, England
Tomas Rosicky, Czech Republic
Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine
Lilian Thuram, France
Patrick Vieira, France
Zinedine Zidane, France
