Cristiano Ronaldo: UEFA Best Player 2010/11 nominee

Cristiano Ronaldo is in the three-man nominee list for the UEFA Best Player in Europe 2010/11 award. A jury made up of 53 sports journalists will vote for the winner, who will be announced on August 25 in Monaco. Xavi Hernandez, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are in the running for the inaugural UEFA Best Player in Europe Award after the shortlist was announced today.

Cristiano Ronaldo

According to UEFA, "the award aims to recognise the best player, irrespective of his nationality, who has played for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member national association during the season to which the award relates. Players will be judged for their performance during the 2010/11 season in all competitions, both domestically and internationally, at either club or national team level".

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 53 goals with Real Madrid (40 in La Liga, 6 in the Champions League, 7 in the Copa del Rey), and three with the Portuguese national team. He won the Golden Boot award thanks to his tally in the Spanish league, with which he broke the record previously held by Zarra and Hugo Sanchez. Also, his goal in the Copa del Rey final gave the team the title.

As explained by UEFA,: "A jury of 53 sports journalists representing each of the UEFA member associations whittled down the 2010/11 long list to FC Barcelona pair Xavi and Messi and Real Madrid CF's Ronaldo. The journalists will vote live, via an electronic voting system, during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which takes place in Monaco, to determine the winner amongst the three nominees".

Positions four to ten are already fixed after each journalist provided a list of their three best-ranked players, with the first player receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point:

• 4 Andres Iniesta (ESP) – FC Barcelona (33 points)
• 5 Falcao (COL) – FC Porto (17)
• 6 Wayne Rooney (ENG) – Manchester United FC (15)
• 7 Nemanja Vidic (SRB) – Manchester United FC (5)
• 8 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (SWE) – AC Milan (4)
• 9 Gerard Pique (ESP) – FC Barcelona (4)
• 10 Manuel Neuer (GER) – FC Schalke 04 (3)