Steven Gerrard celebrates his equaliser at Old Trafford 460
STEVEN GERRARD has been named on an elite list of players in the running for UEFA’s Club Footballer of the Year award.
The Liverpool skipper will battle it out with the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta for the prestigious award, which will be presented to the winner during the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday, August 27.
The players were nominated by the coaches of the 16 teams that reached last season’s Champions League knockout phase, with votes cast for a winner in each position as well as the overall UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.
Gerrard was instrumental in Liverpool’s charge to the quarter-final of last season’s Champions League and has already collected a clutch of individual accolades.
His heroics during the 2005 Champions League final earned him the title of UEFA’s Most Valuable Player, as well as a nomination for the prestigious Ballon D’Or award – coming third behind Ronaldinho and countryman Frank Lampard.
The following season he scored 23 goals in 53 games and was crowned PFA Player of the Year, the first Liverpool man to win the award since John Barnes in 1988.
His stunning 35-yard volley in the 2006 FA Cup final was voted Match of the Day’s Goal of the Season.
