10 Players You Forgot Were Nominated For Ballon d'Or

3. Theo Zagorakis (AEK Athens) - 2004

It was the greatest shock in the history of international football. Bar none. The rank outsiders had, in the space of five weeks, gone from potential Group A fodder to the champions of Europe. Still, ten years later, it boggles the mind just how on earth Greece managed to trump the likes of Portugal, France, Czech Republic and Portugal again to win Euro 2004. Their defensive tactics and negative performances may not have earned them many plaudits in the eyes of the purists, but in terms of the Ballon d€™Or shortlist, their efforts most certainly did not go unnoticed. While AC Milan€™s Andriy Shevchenko pipped Porto€™s Champions League-winning Deco to the prize, there were six Greek players among the shortlisted players. Almost as if to symbolise the efforts of the entire side, it was the Greek captain who lifted the Euro 2004 trophy that received the most votes, to sit behind the likes of Shevchenko, Deco, Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry in fifth place. It was certainly a lofty position for the AEK Athens midfielder, with the likes of Pavel Nedved, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane laying beneath him in the pecking order. Quite the meteoric rise for a man who had been plying his trade at Leicester City just four years earlier. Within a year, he would be in the second division of Greek football. A fickle sport, some might say.