Premier League trio Rooney Gerrard and Drogba shortlisted for Ballon dOr
30 Nov 2009 - 01:05:17
Premier League stars Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Didier Drogba have made the final shortlist for this year's prestigious Ballon d'Or.
The English pair, plus the Ivorian, are joined on the list of 10 by four players from European champions Barcelona, including favourite Lionel Messi.
Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the award last year, and Kaka also make the list alongside Barca's Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the other La Liga representatives.
Didier Drogba
Steven Gerrard
Wayne Rooney
Samuel Eto'o, who scored Barcelona's opening goal in their 2-0 Champions League win over Manchester United in May before moving to Inter as part of the deal which took Ibrahimovic to the Nou Camp, completes this list.
The Premier League had been well represented on the original 30-man list of names. However, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres (11th), Cesc Fabregas (12th), Ryan Giggs (14th), defender Nemanja Vidic (joint 16th), Andrey Arshavinand Frank Lampard (joint 21st) plus John Terry joint 26th were all cut.
Reported target for Chelsea and Manchester United, Franck Ribery who currently plays in Germany for Bayern Munich, only came 29th.
Everton 0 Liverpool 2: Rafa rides his luck as dominant Everton are kept at bay by ReinaPortsmouth 1 Manchester United 4: Glorious Giggs is far from finishedArsenal 0 Chelsea 3: Real leader Terry is so 'influencial' as Blues romp homeBarcelona 1 Real Madrid 0: Take Zlat - Ronaldo misery as £200m Galacticos are eclipsed by sub Ibrahimovic
Explore more:People:Samuel Eto, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrey Arshavin, Steven Gerrard, Franck Ribery, Andres Iniesta, Wayne Rooney, FERNANDO TORRES, Didier Drogba, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Nemanja Vidic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, John Terry, Frank LampardPlaces:Barcelona, Liverpool, Germany
