This season’s best scorer of the English Premier League with 31 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo has been unanimously named as the best player ahead of the Euro 2008 by FRANCE 24’s Observers.

He’s closely followed by ‘El nino’ Fernando Torres and Italy’s most Bavarian, Luca Toni, and to the annoyance of his opponents, the hunk from Madera has also been voted as “most likely to be best striker” of the competition.

One of our British Observer Chris Bullock says Ronaldo has every chance of flaunting his qualities on the field like he did while playing a vital role for Manchester United. Chris is certain that rumours about his transfer to Real Madrid will not affect his game. It remains to be seen if the ice pack noticed on his right ankle after Monday’s training session isn’t a bad omen for Luiz Felipe Scolari, Seleçao’s manager.

Among other players on the list, there is Franck Ribéry (allez Les Bleus!), champion of the German Cup and the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich; Karim Benzema (allez les Bleus! again) French champion and winner of the French cup with Lyon; Russian forward Andrei Arshavin, winner of the UEFA Cup, from Zenit St. Petersburg has unfortunately been banned from playing the first matches against Spain and Greece after being issued a red card in Andorra.

What would the tournament be without legends like Thierry Henry, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Mickael Ballack or even Deco, named by our Observers as the best players present in Switzerland and Austria? A distinguished list of names, and hopefully harbinger of a good competition.