FIFAshortlist ten for player of the tournament

FIFA have included four Brazilians in their shortlist of ten players for the Golden Ball award for the World Cup’s best player.

Ronaldo (winner of the award at France 98), Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldinho have been nominated along with two players from fellow finalists Germany, Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack.

Hasan Sas,who was the driving force behind Turkey’s run to the semi-finals, has also been nominated, as has Hong Myung-Bo, the captain of South Korean, whose performance has been arguably the story of the entire tournament.

Liverpool’s new signing El Hadji Diouf, who set the tournament alight in the opener when he ran the French defence ragged, has been nominated for his performances. The final nominee is somewhat surprising: Fernando Hierro, skipper of the underachieving Spanish side, completes the list.

The nominating committee consisted of several coaches including Dr Jozef Venglos, Andy Roxburgh, Carlos Alberto Parreira, Frank Farina, Angel Iordanescu, Francisco Maturana, Holger Osieck, Ivica Osim as well as former Ghana striker Abedi Pele.