EUROPEAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR

This award begun in 1956 by France Football magazine. Before 1995 only European players playing in Europe were eligible but since then non-European players have also been declared eligible. The results in 1999 are:

RANK NAME NATIONALITY

VOTES

1 Rivaldo Brazil 219
2 David Beckham England 154
3 Andrii Shevchenko Ukraine 64
4 Gabriel Batisuta Argentina 48
5 Luis Figo Portugal 38

Rivaldo won yet another player of the year award, showing that he is the best player in the world. David Beckham continued to come close to winning the award with another runners-up position. Andrii Shevchenko came third after impressing for both Dynamo Kiev and Milan. Previous winners of the award are:

YEAR NAME NATIONALITY
1956 Stanley Matthews England
1957 Alfredo Di Stefano Spain
1958 Raymond Kopa France
1959 Alfredo Di Stefano Spain
1960 Luis Suarez Spain
1961 Omar Sivori Italy
1962 Josef Masopust Czechoslovakia
1963 Lev Yashin USSR
1964 Denis Law Scotland
1965 Eusebio Portugal
1966 Bobby Charlton England
1967 Florian Albert Hungary
1968 George Best Northern Ireland
1969 Gianni Rivera Italy
1970 Gerd Muller Germany
1971 Johan Cruyff Holland
1972 Franz Beckenbauer Germany
1973 Johan Cruyff Holland
1974 Johan Cruyff Holland
1975 Oleg Blokhim USSR
1976 Franz Beckenbauer Germany
1977 Allan Simonsen Denmark
1978 Kevin Keegan England
1979 Kevin Keegan England
1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Germany
1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Germany
1982 Paolo Rossi Italy
1983 Michel Platini France
1984 Michel Platini France
1985 Michel Platini France
1986 Igor Belanov USSR
1987 Ruud Gullit Holland
1988 Marco Van Basten Holland
1989 Marco Van Basten Holland
1990 Lothar Matthaus Germany
1991 Jean-Pierre Papin France
1992 Marco Van Basten Holland
1993 Roberto Baggio Italy
1994 Hristo Stoichkov Bulgaria
1995 George Weah Liberia
1996 Matthias Sammer Germany
1997 Ronaldo Brazil
1998 Zinedine Zidane France

 

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