England miss out on awards shortlists

England players have failed to make the shortlists for either the World Cup’s outstanding player or the best young player of the tournament.

FIFA’s technical studies group have drawn up a shortlist of 10 players for the adidas Golden Ball award and the field is made up of four Italians, three Frenchmen, two Germans and one Portuguese.

The award will be made on Monday and traditionally the winner comes from the finalists. German keeper Oliver Kahn was chosen in 2002.

Thierry Henry and his former Arsenal team-mate Patrick Vieira are both in the running therefore, as is Zinedine Zidane.

From Italy, outstanding central defender Fabio Cannavaro and keeper Gianluigi Buffon have been nominated along with midfielder Andrea Pirlo and full-back Gianluca Zambrotta.

Hosts German provide Miroslav Klose, currently leading scorer in the tournament, and captain Michael Ballack, while Portugal’s midfielder Maniche has also been nominated.

Of the six candidates for the Gillette Best Young Player award, three have been chosen by fans in an internet poll and three selected by FIFA’s technical study group.

The fans chose Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Valencia of Ecuador and Lionel Messi of Argentina.

The technical study group added the trio of Germany striker Lukas Podolski, Tranquilo Barnetta from Switzerland and Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Players had to be under 21 on January 1 this year in order to qualify. From England, Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon were both eligible.