Uefa Club Football Awards

Twelve top stars form the list of nominees for the UEFA Club Football Awards, which will be presented during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw to be held in Monaco on Thursday 24 August at 18.00CET.

Brilliant displays
The list was announced by UEFA on Monday, and features players who set the UEFA Champions League alight with their brilliant and consistent displays last season. There are four award categories: UEFA Club Goalkeeper, Club Defender, Club Midfielder and Club Forward of the Year.

Voting panel
The newly-established voting procedure gives a selected number of experts, consisting of the coaches of the 16 teams that reached the knockout phase of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League, and the members of the UEFA Technical Study Group the possibility to cast their votes.

The short list of nominees is as follows:

UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais)
Jens Lehmann (Arsenal FC)

UEFA Club Defender of the Year:
Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus)
Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal FC)
Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)

UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year:
Deco (FC Barcelona)
Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyonnais)
Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal CF)

UEFA Club Forward of the Year:
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)

Club Footballer award
The UEFA Club Footballer of the Year 2006 - formerly known as the Most Valuable Player - is elected by the 16 coaches only, from the above pool of 12 nominees.

Most Valuable Player award
The Most Valuable Player of the 2005/06 UEFA Cup will be given an award during the UEFA Cup draw to take place in Monaco on 25 August at 13.00CET. For this accolade, only the eight coaches of last season's UEFA Cup quarter-finalists give their vote. Four nominees are in contention: Daniel Alves (Sevilla FC), Enzo Maresca (Sevilla FC), Javier Saviola (Sevilla FC) and Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough FC).