Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have been shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or.
Rooney, Lampard and Gerrard shortlisted for award
England internationals Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or.
The trio are the only British representatives for the accolade alongside the likes of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo - the clear favourite - and Arsenal schemer Cesc Fabregas.
Rooney lifted the UEFA Champions League, and also the Premier League, with Manchester United in May while Lampard netted in the final in Moscow for Chelsea.
Liverpool midfielder Gerrard, who struck 11 league goals last term, impressed as the Reds reached the tournament's last four before losing to Chelsea in the semi-finals.
France Football magazine revealed the condensed list of 30 contenders for their European Footballer of the Year award, with Barcelona forward Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Ronaldinho - who received the accolade in 2005 - absent after disappointing campaigns last season.
Portugal international Ronaldo is the favourite to win the award on 2nd December with Barca playmaker Lionel Messi and 2007 winner Kaka also in contention.
Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba (both Chelsea), Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic (both Manchester United) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) are the other Premier League stars on the list, which has been cut down from 50.
Spain are represented by seven players after winning Euro 2008 in the summer - Torres and Fabregas being joined by Marcos Senna, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, David Villa and Xavi.
Only three Serie A players have been nominated - Kaka, Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - with Spain's Primera Division matching the Premier League with 11 nominees.
Shortlist: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internazionale), Kaka, Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Pepe (Real Madrid), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Rafael van der Vaart (Hambourg/Real Madrid), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), David Villa (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona), Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow).
