The race for this year's prestigious Golden Ball trophy is wide open with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy battling a host of Brazilian stars and new face Wayne Rooney to be named European player of the year in the award presented by France Football magazine.
Van Nistelrooy has had a stellar year for club and country but the Dutchman is up against the mercurial Ronaldinho, who has shone brightly forBarcelona.
Ronaldinho joined fellow Brazilians Adriano, Ailton, Emerson, Juninho, Kaka and Ronaldo on a shortlist of 50 nominees announced TUesday, which also includes last year's winner, Pavel Nedved.
The skillful Juventus midfielder marked 2003 with a series of inspirational displays for Juventus and the Czech Republic. But this year, Nedved has been outshone by the likes of Ronaldinho, Portugal midfielder Deco and prolific AC Milan marksman Andrei Shevchenko.
One significant newcomer is van Nistelrooy's Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney of England. The stocky 19-year-old striker thrilled English fans at Euro 200-1, scoring four goals and running defenses ragged before an ankle injury led him to limp off early in the quarterfinal defeat to host Portugal.
The Golden Ball is a benchmark in soccer dating back to the first award in 1956, when Englishman Stanley Matthews won.
The winner will be selected next month in the magazine's annual poll of selected journalists from around the world.
Nedved clinched the trophy with 190 points last year, ahead of Thierry Henry with 128 and Paolo Maldini with 123. Arsenal striker Henry and veteran AC Milan defender Maldini are nominated again this time around.
Deco, 27, starred for club side FC Porto as coach Jose Mourinho - now with Chelsea - led the side to Champions League success and the Portuguese title. He also Inspired Portugal to reach the Euro 200-1 final, whereitlost 1-0 to Greece.
When Ronaldinho, 24, joined Barcelona, the club was dispirited, chaotic and languishing far from the summit of the Spanish top flight Now, the Catalan club is riding high at the top of La Liga and putting in some strong showings in the early rounds of the Champions League. This turnaround in fortunes is largely due to the dazzling skills and scoring ability of Ronaldinho who only recently scored another sensational goal as Barcelona downed AC Milan 2-1 in a Champions League group match.
Shevchenko is a regular fixture at the top of the Italian scoring charts, and is also notching freely for Europe and for Ukraine, for whom he has 24 goals In 56 matches.
He helped AC Milan win Serie A last season and finished as top scorer in the Italian league with 24 goals, including just one penalty.
Shevchenko, 28, is lethal inside the penalty area, good in the air, difficult to mark and can also strike from impromptu angles and from long range. In short, a defender's nightmare.
Several players from the triumphant Greece side are included on the list, notably goalscoring hero Angelos Charisteas, the Werder Bremen striker who scored the decider in the final
Another notable nominee is England midfielder Frank Lampard, a rising star of English soccer with Chelsea and the national team.
Lampard was England's best midfielder at Euro 2004, chipping in with three goals and outshining captain David Beckham. Only Rooney managed to eclipse Lampard's showing at Euro 2004. However, there is no place on the list for 2002 contender Roberto Carlos of Brazil, once considered the world's best attacking fullback, or Michael Owen, his teammate at Real Madrid.