David Beckham has been nominated for FIFA's World Footballer of the Year award. The Manchester United midfielder is in the final shortlist of three for the prize alongside Raul and last year's runner-up Luis Figo. Remarkably, both Raul and Figo play for Real Madrid, as does last year's winner, Zinedine Zidane.
This latest nomination is bound to annoy Figo, who has said that Beckham is not even the best player at Manchester United, never mind good enough to win European Footballer of the Year. Figo believes that Ryan Giggs is a better player than the England captain.
No British player has ever won the FIFA award during its ten-year history, although Beckham came second to Rivaldo two years ago. Kevin Keegan was the last Englishman to be named European Footballer of the Year, back in 1979.
Keegan would be delighted if Beckham won the European Footballer of the Year award. "It was 1979 when I won it. That's a long time ago - 22 years - and it's about time an English player won it. I would be delighted obviously having met the guy when I was with England, having seen how professional he is and what he has achieved. He's not just a great player, he works very hard too, which is something people don't always notice.
"I got it because I was a hard-working player and I scored goals. His goalscoring this year has been tremendous and I would be the first to phone him up and say `well done' if he wins it. I think both David and Michael Owen this year have an outstanding chance and it would help if their clubs could do well in Europe. That always gives it another little push," said the Man City manager.
The winner will be announced at FIFA's annual gala in Zurich, Switzerland, on 17 December.
Previous World Footballer of the Year winners:
Lothar Matthaus (Germany, 1991)
Marco van Basten (Netherlands,1992)
Roberto Baggio (Italy, 1993)
Romario (Brazil, 1994)
George Weah (Liberia, 1995)
Ronaldo (Brazil, 1996 and 1997)
Zinedine Zidane (France, 1998 and 2000)
Rivaldo (Brazil, 1999)
Filed by Greg McKevitt
