Here Are The Nominees For The 2008 Golden Foot Award

The 2008 GOLDEN FOOT edition was presented in Turin earlier this afternoon. During the presentation press conference Alessandro Del Piero, who won the award in 2007, revealed the 10 names of the nominees for the 2008 Golden Foot award, the prestigious international career prize under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. Here are the ten names of the players chosen by the jury consisting of the event international Media Partners:

1. David Beckham (England),
Date of birth: 02/05/1975
Current club: Los Angeles Galaxy (Usa)
Position: right or central midfielder

HONOURS
English League (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003)
English Cup (1996, 1999)
UEFA Champions League (1999)
Intercontinental Cup (1999)
Spanish League (2007)
Spanish Super Cup (2003)
English League Young Footballer of the Year (1997)
UEFA Champions League Footballer of the Year (1999)

David BECKHAM PROFILE
Simply the most famous footballer in the world, David Beckham's main attributes are his long-range shooting ability - especially from free-kicks - pin-point accurate crossing from the right. He established himself in the Manchester United FC first team in the 1995/96 English double-winning season and a goal from the halfway line in the first game of the next campaign, at Wimbledon, marked his arrival as a star. Beckham's efforts in the treble-winning team of 1998/99 that lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy won him the second place behind Rivaldo in the voting for FIFA World Player of the Year and European Player of the Year. His coruscating form in 2001 brought another second place in the FIFA poll, behind Luís Figo. In 2003 summer, he joined Real Madrid CF (where he won a Liga title in 2007), then in summer 2007 he transferred to the United States Major League Soccer to play with Los Angeles Galaxy. On March, 26th 2008, Beckham becomes the fifth to win 100 caps with English national team.

2. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy),
Date of birth: 28/01/1978
Current club: Juventus FC (Italy)
Position: goalkeeper

HONOURS
FIFA World Cup (2006)
U21 European Championship (1996)
UEFA Cup (1999)
Italian League (2002, 2003)
Italian Cup (1999)
Italian Supercup (1999, 2002, 2003)
Official Italian Republic's Order of Merit (2006)
IFFHS Best Goalkeeper of the Year (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007)
UEFA Champions League MVP (2003)
UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Year (2003)
Lev Yashin award (2006, best goalkeeper of the World Cup)

Gianluigi BUFFON PROFILE
Gianluigi Buffon is unanimously considered the best goalkeeper in the world, but only after his retirement it will be possible to say if he was, as it seems, one of the strongest ones ever. He seemed immediately predestined to become what he is now: "Gigi" worked his way through the youth ranks at Parma that signed him as a professional player at the age of 17 in 1995, going on to make his Serie A debut for the club against AC Milan that year and winning the UEFA Cup with Parma in 1999. Buffon went on to make 168 appearances for Parma while building a reputation as one of Europe's best young goalkeeping talents and it wasn't long until the major clubs started looking his way. Juventus won the auction for Buffon's services in 2001 and paid Parma a world record fee of over £32m for the 23- year- old goalie. Personal prizes such as UEFA's Most Valuable Player Award and Best Goalkeeper Awards have continued to add to Buffon's trophy cabinet alongside notable club and international successes as the Scudetto (Italian national title) with Juventus and a World Cup victory with Italy in 2006. The Calciopoli (match-fixing) scandal which saw Juventus relegated to Serie B did not scare Buffon away from the club and he duly helped his club to the Serie B title in 2006/2007 as they battled their way back to Serie A in only one season. Buffon's international career began at the age of 19 when he replaced injured Gianluca Pagliuca between the goalposts but it was to be a few years before he made the position his own. Buffon's greatest career triumph has to be the 2006 World Cup during which he kept a 453-minute scoreless streak as he helped Italy to propel towards the World Cup glory.

3. Fabio Cannavaro (Italy),
Date of birth: 13/9/1973
Current club: Real Madrid CF (Spain)
Position: central defender

HONOURS
FIFA World Cup (2006)
U-21 European Championship (1994, 1996)
UEFA Cup (1999)
Italian Cup (1999)
Italian Supercup (1999)
Spanish League (2007, 2008)
European Footballer of the Year (2006)
FIFA World Player of the Year (2006)
FIFPRO Footballer of the Year (2006)
Italian Serie A Footballer of the Year (2006)

Fabio CANNAVARO PROFILE
The captain of the Italian national team, 2006 world champions, is one of the best defenders in the world. A SSC Napoli youth product, he made his Serie A debut when he was 20 and became a regular in the blue of his boyhood club in 1993/94. Departing for Parma FC in 1995/96, Cannavaro won the UEFA Cup and two Italian Cups during a seven-year spell. Internazionale FC paid €23m for him in 2002 but after two seasons he made a surprise move to Juventus FC in August 2004. In a typically imperious form in Turin, he was ever-present as Juventus won the title two years in a row but those triumphs were wiped out by a match-fixing scandal. With Juventus relegated Cannavaro joined Real Madrid CF in the summer of 2006, signing a three-year contract. Cannavaro made his full Italy debut against Northern Ireland in January 1997, subsequently emerging as a mainstay at international level alongside another great Italian defender, Alessandro Nesta. He starred at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship 2000 where he played in the final loss to France. Captain and ever-present in qualifying for UEFA Euro 2004, Cannavaro played twice in Portugal, but enjoyed his crowning glory two years later, lifting the World Cup trophy as Italy defeated France on his 100th appearance. Thanks to this great victory, in 2006 he was elected European Footballer of the Year (voted by journalists), FIFA World Player of the Year (voted by coaches and captains of national teams) and FIFPRO Footballer of the Year (voted by his colleagues).

4. Luís Figo (Portugal),
Date of birth: 04/11/1972
Current club: Internazionale FC (Italy)
Position: right or left midfielder

HONOURS
UEFA Champions League (2002)
Intercontinental Cup (2002)
UEFA Cup Winners Cup (1997)
European Supercup (1998, 2002)
U-16 FIFA World Cup (1989)
U-20 FIFA World Cup (1991)
Spanish Supercup (1996, 2003)
Spanish Cup (1997, 1998)
Spanish League (1998, 1999, 2001, 2003)
Italian League (2007, 2008)
Italian Cup (2006)
European Footballer of the Year (2000)
FIFA World Player of the Year (2001)
Portuguese Footballer of the Year (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002)

Luis FIGO PROFILE
A teenager of outrageous talent and now one of the game's premier wide midfield players, Luís Figo relishes teasing defenders with his trickery and dribbling ability. The leader of the Portuguese "golden generation", Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his debut for Portugal in a game against Luxembourg. After joining aged eleven, Figo made his Sporting Clube de Portugal debut when he was 16 in 1989 and went on to make 124 appearances, winning the Portuguese Cup and earning the captaincy before joining FC Barcelona in 1995. It was at Camp Nou that his career took off: Figo won a UEFA European Cup Winners' Cup in 1996/97, back-to-back Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for the Azulgrana, scoring 30 goals. In 2000, there was his controversial, world-record transfer to Real Madrid CF. The move caused outrage among Barcelona fans and many others baulked at the €65m transfer fee. Yet Figo justified the investment by helping Madrid to the Primera División title and UEFA Champions League semi-finals as well as winning the FIFA World Footballer of the Year award. In 2001/02, he went one better, playing through injury for an hour of the final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen as Madrid prevailed 2-1. In 2002/03 season, Figo played a major role as Madrid won the Spanish title, scoring ten times in 33 matches. In 2005 he went to Internazionale FC where he won two Italian titles in a row.

5. Ryan Giggs (Wales),
Date of birth: 29/11/1973
Current club: Manchester United FC
Position: left wing/midfielder

HONOURS
UEFA Champions League (1999)
Intercontinental Cup (1999)
European Supercup (1991)
English League Cup (1992, 2006)
English Premier League (1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008)
English FA Cup (1994, 1996, 1999, 2004)
English League Young Footballer of the Year (1992, 1993)
U-21 European Footballer of the Year (1993)
Intercontinental Cup MVP (1999)

Ryan GIGGS PROFILE
Ryan Giggs is one of very few players to have spent their entire career at the same club, he is the most decorated player in the history of Manchester United FC with more than 500 appearances for the club, Welsh winger Ryan Giggs's main strengths are his speed and his ability to manipulate the ball while running at full pace. Giggs is Manchester United's longest-serving current player, having made his first appearance for the club during the 1990-91 season and been a regular player since the 1991-92 season. He has played the highest number of competitive games for the club (more than Sir Bobby Charlton, the previous recordman), and holds the club record of team trophies won by a player (24). As well as being a fine dribbler, Giggs is also a regular goalscorer: it is very famous a magnificent solo score to win the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay against Arsenal FC, from which point the club went on to secure an unprecedented treble of league, cup and UEFA Champions League, later adding the Intercontinental Cup. He has claimed nine other English titles (his overall tally of ten is a joint English record), two more FA Cups and a League Cup, one more Champions League (2008) and is the only player to win the Professional Footballers Association Young Player of the Year award on two occasions in a row (1992 and 1993). As Welsh international Giggs has been a regular in his side since becoming the youngest player to represent his country aged 17 years and 321 days against Germany in 1991, although he has never played in a final tournament. With his country's shirt, the Welsh Wizard has played 62 games scoring 12 goals.

6. Thierry Henry (France),
Date of birth: 17/8/1977
Current club: FC Barcelona (Spain)
Position: forward

HONOURS
FIFA World Cup (1998)
UEFA European Championship (2000)
FIFA Confederations Cup (2003)
French League (1997)
English FA Cup (2002, 2003, 2005)
English Premier League (2002, 2004)
French Young Footballer of the Year (1997)
French Footballer of the Year (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
English Premier League Top Scorer (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
English Premier League Footballer of the Year (2003, 2004, 2006)
FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorer (2003)
FIFA Confederations Cup MVP (2003)

Thierry HENRY PROFILE
Henry first made his mark with AS Monaco (1993-99), helping them to the French title in 1997 and a UEFA Champions League semi-final in 1998. He joined Juventus FC in January for a significant fee but failed to settle and seven months later Wenger took Henry to Arsenal. Reaching the 2000 UEFA Cup final, Premiership titles followed in 2001/02 and 2003/04, when Henry was the league's leading scorer, a feat he repeated in 2004/05 and 2005/06, he won the ESM Golden Boot award in 2003/04 and 2004/05 and FA Cup winners' medals in 2002, 2003 and 2005. In 2005/06 Henry became Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer and played in the UEFA Champions League final, a superb campaign ending in a disappointing 2-1 loss to FC Barcelona. In 1998, when he was only 20, with France he finished as his country's leading scorer as they won the FIFA World Cup. Further success followed at UEFA European championship in 2000, when he was again his country's top scorer with three strikes. Scored six goals in seven qualifiers for the European championship in 2004 and then found the net twice against Switzerland to help France to reach the last eight. In the 2006 World Cup he scored three times, including the winner in the quarter-final against Brazil, as Les Bleus finished runners-up.

7. Raúl González Blanco (Spain),
Date of birth: 27/6/1977
Current club: Real Madrid CF (Spain)
Position: forward

HONOURS
UEFA Champions League (1998, 2000, 2002)
Intercontinental Cup (1998, 2002)
European Supercup (2002)
Spanish League (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008)
Spanish Supercup (1997, 2001, 2003)
Uefa Champions League Top Scorer (2000, 2001)
Spanish League Top Scorer (1999, 2001)
European Bronze Boot (1999, 2001)
Best Spanish Footballer (1997)
Intercontinental Cup Best Player (1998)
Champions League Best Forward (2000)
Balón de Plata (2001)
Third Fifa World Player (2001)
IFFHS Best World Scorer (1999)
Best Scorer ever of the Spanish selection

RAUL Gonzalez PROFILE
Raúl is born in Madrid and lives at San Cristobal de los Angeles, a modest area to the south of the city. His father Pedro is an electrician and a great fan of the Club Atlético de Madrid and signs his son to his favourite club. Jesus Gil y Gil, the club's chairman, promises to pay for the 13-year-old kid's studies up to the university, but it never comes true. Even if the Atlético "infantil" (the youth team) wins the Spanish championship with 65 goals by Raúl, the year after the boss decides to dismantle the youth team, and then Real Madrid CF come forward to sign the young champion. Gil reacts offering him a contract as a professional player (he is 15) but the kid does not trust him and leaves. On 29 October 1994 Raúl made his debut with Real Madrid CF, he was only 17 and entered the pitch as a replacement of Emilio Butragueño, one of his youth idols. He is the youngest player making his debut in the history of the club, but it was not one of Real's best periods: the last Champions League won dates back to 1966, and the last national title to 1990. The league title arrives immediately, but they have to wait more to win the Champions League: on 20 May 1998 their "seventh" trophy gets to the museum of the club. The "Blancos" beat by 1 to 0 Juventus FC in Amsterdam, the goal is scored by Mijatovic and Raúl is one of the protagonists of the match. The same happens in 2000, in the final in Paris they win 3-0 over Valencia CF, his is the last goal after a solo that is much applauded, and they lift their eighth Champions League Cup. Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham will come later to play alongside Raúl. No one of them, however, overshadows the young player from Madrid. On the pitch his reputation stays the same: he scores in the 2002 Champions League final, his is the first goal of a show ended by Zidane's goal. Beating Bayer 04 Leverkusen by 2 to 1 Real Madrid CF is the new European champion, while in the Liga the titles keep piling up and get to 29 (2003). With a contract expiring in 2010, Raul will be a madridist player for life, but by now he is already a legend of the "casa blanca".

8. Roberto Carlos (Brazil),
Date of birth: 10/4/1973
Current club: Fenerbahçe SK
Position: left defender

HONOURS
FIFA Confederations Cup (1997)
FIFA World Cup (2002)
Copa América (1997, 1999)
UEFA Champions League (1998, 2000, 2002)
Intercontinental Cup (1998, 2002)
European Supercup (2002)
Brazilian Championship (1993, 1994)
Spanish League (1997, 2001, 2003, 2007)
Spanish Supercup (1997, 2003)

ROBERTO CARLOS PROFILE
Roberto Carlos is known for his trademark powerful free kicks. He is also known for his speed and his aggressiveness at joining the offense, often leading counter attacks from the back of the field. He is regarded as one of the best full backs ever. After three seasons with SE Palmeiras, in 1995 he was transferred to Internazionale FC: it was a good season for him and scored 5 goals (as a defender!) in 30 matches. At the end of that season he was transferred to Real Madrid CF, and with this club he has started his titles collection: three Spanish Leagues and three Champions League (competition in which he is one of only five players to have played more than 100 matches in the Champions League as of March 2007) in all. As a Brazilian international, he has been a member of the Brazil national team in three World Cups, helping the team to reach the final in the 1998 edition and to win the 2002 tournament. He finished his career with the Seleção with 125 matches played and 29 goals scored. He finished second to countryman Ronaldo in the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year award poll and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In 2007 he was transferred to Fenerbahçe SK.

9. Francesco Totti (Italy),
Date of birth: 27/9/1976
Current club: AS Roma (Italy)
Position: forward

HONOURS
FIFA World Cup (2006)
U21 European Championship (1996)
Italian League (2001)
Italian Cup (2007, 2008)
Italian Supercup (2001, 2007)
Italian League Top Scorer (2007)
ESM Golden Boot (2007)

Francesco TOTTI PROFILE
Francesco Totti is one of the most exciting and impressive attacking footballers to emerge in this generation and is widely recognised as AS Roma's talisman having never left the club to play elsewhere. Totti made his first appearance for AS Roma at the age of only 16 and his talent coupled with an eagerness to impress was soon rewarded as he forced himself into a regular place in the first team. His development at the club continued in earnest and he was named Serie A Player of the Year both in 2000 and in 2003. Totti's influence in the squad was one of the major factors that contributed to AS Roma securing the Italian league title at the end of the 2001 season with the young man scoring thirteen goals for his team. Totti's outstanding performances for Roma continued as Totti was moulded into the player and creative genius that we know and love today. Recently, in the 2006-07 season Totti scored an impressive tally of 26 goals securing the trophy for the top goal scorer in the League as well as the European Golden Boot. In international football Totti has played as a regular for the Italian national squad since he first made his senior debut in 2000. Totti was a member of the successful Italian squad that lifted the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He announced his retirement from the national team in July 2007 emphasising that he wishes to concentrate on his domestic football with Roma.

10. David Trezeguet (France).
Date of birth: 15/10/1977
Current club: Juventus FC (Italy)
Position: forward

HONOURS
FIFA World Cup (1998)
UEFA European Championship (2000)
Italian League (2002, 2003)
Italian Supercup (2002, 2003)
Italian League Top Scorer (2002)
French League (1997, 2000)

David TREZEGUET PROFILE
David Trezeguet is one of the best forwards and goal scorers in the world. He is one of the many French players whose origins lay outside France. He was born in France, the son of an Argentine footballer (Jorge Trezeguet), grew up in Argentina and played his first professional games there for CA Platense before joining AS Monaco in 1995. He has been pretty much a first choice ever since the 1998 World Cup win where he played a part in every game except the final. One of his greatest moments so far has been scoring, with French nartional team shirt, the winning extra-time golden goal against Italy in the final of Euro2000, a great striker's finish, swivelling and firing a rocket up into the net. He's much more of a goal poacher than a creator in the Henry mould and his goal scoring record throughout his career has always been excellent, his ratio of goals to games must be around two in every three. He's the type of player who can win a game when the team is not playing well by having the knack of getting on the end of a half chance. Besides winning the World Cup and European Championship you can add two French and two Italian titles won with AS Monaco and with Juventus FC.

Among them, the player who will get most votes on the web site www.goldenfoot.com from May 9th through August 29th, will have the honour of receiving the precious Golden Foot award in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II in the Principality of Monaco on 1 September next. The winner will also leave his footprints on the CHAMPIONS PROMENADE, the Walk of Fame of international football on the seafront of Monaco. (PRESS KIT).

(taken from: here)