National soccer players Park Chu-young, Baek Ji-hoon and Kim Jin-kyu are candidates for the Gillette Best Young Player Award in the World Cup in Germany.

Soccer's world governing body FIFA on Thursday chose 40 players under age 21 from 24 countries who will play in Germany. Fans will vote for the winner during the event on the FIFA World Cup Web site (www.fifaworldcup.com).

FIFA's Technical Study Group will rate players on seven categories such as basic technical skills, creativity, fan recognition, performance and fair play, and announce the winner on July 7th.

Park is a rising star forward with FC Seoul, playing alongside teammate and midfielder Baek. Kim plays defender for Jubilo Iwata of Japan's J-League.

Other candidates for the award include Argentina's Lionel Messi, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Germany's Lukas Podolski.