Media Release Date: 08/12/2008 Communiqué aux médias No. 148 Medien-Mitteilung uefa.com Team of 2008 Fans can vote online until 12 January 2009 Voting opens today for the uefa.com users’ Team of 2008. The poll, now in its eighth year, gives the users of uefa.com the chance to select a team of players who made their mark in European football over the last 12 months. Sixty players and managers have been nominated for 12 positions, including coach, and the final team will be announced on 21 January 2009 on uefa.com and in the January issue of Champions magazine. The nominees were chosen by uefa.com staff writers on the basis of their coverage of football throughout Europe on a daily basis. The players were selected for their overall performances either for a European club or national team, or in a UEFA club competition in 2008. The uefa.com Team of the Year is not intended as a rival to more established awards, and does not bear the official UEFA imprimatur. Nevertheless, it has already proved hugely popular with fans, and over 13 million votes have been cast in previous polls. European champions Manchester United FC have the most nominees with seven, while UEFA Champions League runners-up Chelsea have six. UEFA Cup winners FC Zenit St. Petersburg earned five nominations along with Spanish champions Real Madrid CF. In total, 20 clubs have players or coaches nominated. Fourteen members of Spain’s UEFA EURO 2008™-winning squad including coach Luis Aragonés have been nominated. uefa.com Editorial Manager Massimo Gonnella said: “With UEFA EURO 2008™ taking place this year it was even harder than usual to come up with a shortlist of nominations for the uefa.com users’ Team of 2008. However, we feel that the users’ final list will represent an accurate reflection of the best performers of the past year. This year we will also be giving fans the chance to explain why they have voted for a particular player or coach and to have their say on all the nominees.” Users can vote by accessing www.uefa.com/teamoftheyear. Voting continues until 12 January 2009. The full list of nominees, over the page, is as follows: ../… For further information: UEFA Media Services: ++41 848 04 27 27 Goalkeepers Right Midfielders René Adler (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) Hamit Altıntop (FC Bayern München) Igor Akinfeev (PFC CSKA Moskva) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC) Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC) Petr Čech (Chelsea FC) Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United München) FC) Javier Zanetti (FC Internazionale Milano) Right backs Left Midfielders Aleksandr Anyukov (FC Zenit St. Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona) Petersburg) Franck Ribéry (FC Bayern München) José Boswingwa (Chelsea FC) Arjen Robben (Real Madrid CF) Maicon (FC Internazionale Milano) David Silva (Valencia CF) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF) Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid CF) Bacary Sagna (Arsenal FC) Attacking Midfielders Left Backs Andrei Arshavin (FC Zenit St. Petersburg) Joan Capdevila (Villarreal CF) Michael Ballack (Chelsea FC) Patrice Evra (Manchester United FC) Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal FC) Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München) Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC) Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord Luka Modrić (Tottenham Hotspur FC) Yuri Zhirkov (PFC CSKA Moskva) Forwards Central Defenders Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal FC) Jamie Carragher (Liverpool FC) Sergio Agüero (Club Atlético de Madrid) Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea FC) Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais) Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United FC) Daniel Güiza (Fenerbahçe SK) Carlos Marchena (Valencia CF) Zlatan Ibrahimović (FC Internazionale Pepe (Real Madrid CF) Milano) Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona) Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) John Terry (Chelsea) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United FC) Tomáš Ujfaluši (Club Atlético de Madrid) Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC) Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United FC) David Villa (Valencia CF) Central Midfielders Coaches Mehmet Aurélio (Real Betis Balompié) Dick Advocaat (FC Zenit St. Petersburg) Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona) Luis Aragonés (Spain/ Fenerbahçe SK) Marcos Senna ((Villarreal CF) Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United FC) Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (FC Zenit St. Temuri Ketsbaia (Anorthosis Famagusta Petersburg) FC) Konstantin Zyryanov (FC Zenit St. Fatih Terim (Turkey) Petersburg) .