Shortlist For 2008 European Footballer Of The Year Award.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic and Edwin van der Sar are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for the 2008 European Footballer of the Year award.

The list of nominees for the prestigious Ballon d'Or was published on Sunday by France Football magazine.

Portuguese international Ronaldo is the strong favourite to win the award at the ceremony on 2 December, although Barcelona's Lionel Messi and AC Milan's 2007 winner Kaka are expected to be in contention.

Notable absentees from the list include Barcelona striker Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Ronaldinho - who received the accolade in 2005 - after disappointing campaigns last season.

Only three Serie A players have been nominated - Kaka, Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Spain's La Liga division matches the Premier League with 11 nominees.

Full list of nominees:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo
Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Argentina
Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Russia
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany
Karim Benzema (Lyon), France
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast
Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cameroon
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain
Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Sweden
Kaka (Milan AC), Brazil
Frank Lampard (Chelsea), England
Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Argentina
Pepe (Real Madrid), Portugal
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), France
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England
Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Spain
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Spain
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Netherlands
Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Netherland
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Netherlands
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Serbia
David Villa (Valencia CF), Spain
Xavi (FC Barcelona), Spain
Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Russia