The ten nominees for this year’s edition of the Golden Foot have been announced.

The players, chosen by a comittee of international journalists, become eligible when they turn 28, and the award can only be won once.

This year, the shortlist includes two Spanish footballers, two English, one Portuguese, one German, one from Côte d’Ivoire, one from Italy, one from France and a Cameroonian.

The players who compete for the title are Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Galatasaray), Miroslav Klose (Lazio), David Trezeguet (River Plate), David Beckham (Paris Saint Germain, now retired), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) and Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi Makhachkala).

The most likely winner will be one of the Spaniards or David Beckham. Casillas, goalkeeper with the Spanish team and Real Madrid -and captain of both- has had a rough year, tainted by his enmity with Jose Mourinho, but the little he has played, he has proved to be an excellent player. And he made an impressive Confederations Cup, despite losing the final. The same can be applied to fellow Spaniard Andrés Iniesta, whose style is admired by team-mates and rivals equally.

And then there is Beckham. He is quite a figure in football, and he probably deserves to win this year, the season when he has retired, because it would be the perfect

way of culminating his career, and it is his last opportunity -you need to be active to be eligible for the award.

The Golden Foot winner is required to stand out due to his sports results throughout the season. The last winner was Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Other notable winners are Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs, Alessandro Del Piero or Ronaldo.

The winner is voted online through the official website, and the voting is open until 7th September. If you register and vote for your favourite, you can have the chance of winning either a trip to Monte Carlo -with an invitation to the awards gala-, a T-shirt signed by the winner or a signed photo of a previous winner -which one, it is still a mystery…

There is no word yet on when the gala will take place, but it will sure be an event filled with the best among the best in the current football scene. It will be held at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, along with a charity auction.