John Terry, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Claude Makelele and Arjen Robben are all in contention for the prestigious award. England skipper Terry plus last-year's runner-up Lampard and fellow Blues team-mate Cole are joined on the shortlist by Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, taking English representation to five. Of the 50 nominations, 17 are from the Premiership, more than any other league, and among the new faces to the list is Everton's Tim Cahill, whose goals inspired Australia to the second round of the World Cup this summer for the first time in their history.
Seven members of Italy's World Cup-winning squad feature in the list including captain Fabio Cannavaro, who is expected to challenge Zidane for the top prize.
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