"WORLD SOCCER"  WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR

This award begun in 1982 and is voted on by the readers of World Soccer magazine. The results in 2001 are:

RANK NAME NATIONALITY

%

1 Michael Owen England 30.72
2 David Beckham England 16.46
3 Raul Spain 11.89
4 Francesco Totti Italy 7.53
5 Rivaldo Brazil 6.23
6 Oliver Kahn Germany 3.52
7 Luis Figo Portugal 3.24
8 Andrii Shevchenko Ukraine 2.74
9 Henrik Larsson Sweden 2.12
10 Hernan Crespo Argentina 1.84

Michael Owen won the award after helping Liverpool to a cup treble of League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. He also scored key goals to help England qualify for the World Cup including a hat-trick against Germany. Beckham was also important in England's qualification campaign. Raul starred for both Spain and Real Madrid in 2001.Previous winners of the award are:

YEAR NAME NATIONALITY
1982 Paolo Rossi Italy
1983 Zico Brazil
1984 Michel Platini France
1985 Michel Platini France
1986 Diego Maradona Argentina
1987 Ruud Gullit Holland
1988 Marco Van Basten Holland
1989 Ruud Gullit Holland
1990 Lothar Matthaus Germany
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin France
1992 Marco Van Basten Holland
1993 Roberto Baggio Italy
1994 Paolo Maldini Italy
1995 Gianluca Vialli Italy
1996 Ronaldo Brazil
1997 Ronaldo Brazil
1998 Zinedine Zidane France
1999 Rivaldo Brazil
2000 Luis Figo Portugal

 

Click here to go to the 1999 World Soccer World Player of the Year page

Click here to go to the 2000 World Soccer World Player of the Year page

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