Roberto Carlos and Zidane, nominees as best player for the 2003 UEFA European Football Awards

Real Madrid's Roberto Carlos and French midfielder Zinedine Zidane are two of the five nominees as best football player for the 2003 UEFA European Football Awards.

Other nominees for this award are the Italian goalkeeper , Gianluigi Buffon, the Czechoslovakian midfielder Pavel Nedved ( Juventus) and the Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrroy ( Manchester United).

Roberto Carlos is also one of the nominees as best defender and Zidane as best midfielder, together with his fellow countryman Claude Makelele. Iker Casillas is also one of the nominees for the award as best goalkeeper and Raúl and Ronaldo are nominees as best forwards.

The nominees for these awards are elected by the users of the UEFA web page and also by members of the UEFA Technical Team which includes the top coaches Alex Ferguson, Ottmar Hitzfield, Gérard Houllier, Marcello Lippi, Rinus Michels, Giovanni Trapattoni, Jozef Venglos and Arséne Wenger and also includes the UEFA Technical Manager, Andy Roxburgh.

The awards will be announced at the UEFA ceremony in Monaco on Tuesday 28 August, one day before the celebration of the European Super Cup match between Milan, winner of the Champion League and FC Porto, winner of the UEFA Cup.

This is the list of nominees for the 2003 UEFA European Football Awards:

Best goalkeeper:
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) and Francesco Toldo (Inter de Milán).

Best defender:
Cristian Chivu (Ajax), Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta (Milán), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid) and Lilian Thuram (Juventus).

Best mielfielder:
Edgar Davids and Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Claude Makelele and Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) and Paul Scholes (Manchester United).

Best forward:
Gianluigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Raúl and Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United).