Cristiano Ronaldo is on course for a hat trick of PFA Player of the Year awards after being included in the nominations released on Tuesday. The Portuguese, who was voted World Footballer of the Year in January, is one of five Manchester United nominees, a reflection on a season that could end with Alex Ferguson's side collecting five trophies. Central defensive partnership Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are in contention for the award voted for by their fellow professionals (Professional Football Association, the English players' union) while Ryan Giggs and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar are also nominated. The 35-year-old Giggs, who has never won the award, has been in sparkling form for United as they aim to add the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup to the FIFA Club World Cup and English League Cup trophies they have already won. Dutchman Van der Sar managed a record 14 consecutive league clean sheets earlier this season. Title-chasing Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who won the vote in 2006, completes the list of six. The nominations for the Young Player of the Year feature a trio of young England internationals in Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young and Tottenham Hotspur winner Aaron Lennon. Manchester United's Jonny Evans and Raphael and Manchester City's Stephen Ireland complete the list. Coach punches referee The coach of a team relegated to Brazil's third division punched the referee in the face after being ejected from the bench. Pedro Santilli, a former assistant coach for Brazil's national team, also shoved a player to the ground in the match that led to his team's demotion to the third division of the Sao Paulo state championship on Sunday. Comercial, a team in the interior of Sao Paulo state, was losing 1-0 to Catanduvense when Santilli entered the field to remove a ball which was out of play in an attempt to speed up play, and on his way back to the bench he shoved an opposing player into the ground. After referee Flavio Rodrigues de Souza ejected Santilli, the coach once again charged onto the field, arguing with Souza before completely losing his cool and delivering a right-handed punch into the referee's chin, Globo TV showed on Monday. The referee then moved out of the way and players quickly arrived to escort Santilli off the field. Santilli, an assistant to Brazil coach Emerson Leao in 2000, reportedly said after the match that he regretted his actions and wanted to apologize to the referee. Wolves eye promotion Wolverhampton moved within touching distance of the Premier League as Andy Keogh's late goal clinched a 3-2 win at Derby on Monday. Mick McCarthy's side is seven points clear of third-placed Sheffield United with just three games remaining and a win against QPR on Saturday would guarantee promotion from the Championship. Birmingham's hopes of going up with Wolves are in the balance after Alex McLeish's 10 men held on for a 1-1 home draw against Plymouth. The second-placed Blues are only one point ahead of Sheffield United, while Cardiff are only four points behind with a game in hand.
