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Two in three years France's Zidane named FIFA world player of the year
Updated: Monday December 11, 2000 8:20 PM
ROME (AP) -- Juventus' French midfielder Zinedine Zidane won the 2000 FIFA world soccer player of the year Monday, squeaking past Spanish league stars Luis Figo of Portugal and Rivaldo of Brazil. It was the second player of the year award in three years for Zidane, a creative and controlling presence in the midfield who led France to this summer's European Championship following the squad's 1998 World Cup victory. The 28-year-old Italian league star won with 370 points, followed by 329 for Real Madrid's Figo and 263 for Barcelona's Rivaldo, the 1999 winner of the FIFA honor. The shortlisted trio was selected last month by 150 national team coaches from around the world. The final choice was announced at a gala attended by world soccer legends in the Italian capital.
FIFA also named Brazil's Pele and Argentina's Diego Maradona the co-players of the century, splitting the 20th century honors after a feud erupted between the two South American legends. Real Madrid easily won the team of the century award, topping Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Two players who compete against Zidane in Italy's Serie A -- Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta of AS Roma and Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko of AS Milan -- finished fourth and fifth respectively in the annual player balloting. David Beckham of Manchester United finished sixth. But it was Zidane -- the winner in 1998 after the World Cup crown and a second straight Italian league title with Juventus -- who joined Brazil's Ronaldo as the only players to twice win the award, which the world soccer governing board introduced in 1991. "It's special to be here next to Figo and Rivaldo," Zidane said, accepting the award. "I think winning the European Championships put me over the top [in the voting]." The Marseille native was the dominant player in June's Euro 2000, outwitting opponents with quick turns, an eagle's eye and just enough muscle to control the pitch. Zidane was voted player of the game in France's quarterfinal and semifinals games, notching a high-pressure "golden goal" penalty shot against Portugal -- and Figo -- to send France into the finals against Italy. Though he suffered from nagging leg injuries during the last Italian league season, Zidane has remained Juventus' driving force. The Turin squad came one point away from winning another Serie A title in May. There had been some doubt raised about Zidane's standing in the eyes of FIFA after he was ejected from two straight Champions League games this fall, the second time for a vicious head-butt against a German opponent. Figo, 28, who transferred from FC Barcelona to Real Madrid in July in a world record 10 billion pesetas (US$56 million) deal, was Portugal's standout performer in Euro 2000. Figo's departure increased pressure on Barcelona's other 28-year-old megastar, Rivaldo, the reigning 1999 FIFA player of the year. The southern squad reportedly doubled his salary to US$5.6 million per year to hold onto the Brazilian, who now holds down second place in the Spanish league scoring race, with eight goals. The player of the century award was originally set to go to one man, based on Internet voting and ballots cast by FIFA members and through its magazine. Hoping to quell controversy after Maradona was the apparent winner, thanks to his large Internet support, FIFA split the award in two to ensure the presence of both champions at the gala. The Argentine, who led his national team to the 1986 World Cup was the on-line winner with 53.6% of the votes, followed by the 18.5% received by Pele, a three-time World Cup winner and soccer's all-time greatest scorer. Portugal's Eusebio was third at 6.2%. Pele won the "football family" award thanks to 72.8% of the ballots casts through internal FIFA balloting, followed by Alfredo Di Stefano of Argentina with 9.8% and Maradona at 6.0%. Maradona, who'd threatened to skip the event, was making only his second return to Italy after ending his storied career with Napoli in 1991 following several failed drug tests. "I was surprised by the warm welcome from [FIFA President Joseph] Blatter," Maradona said before the ceremony. "But we still need to sit down and talk." The 40-year-old Argentine, who was hospitalized early this year with a heart condition linked to drug and alcohol abuse, remains immensely popular with fans from Buenos Aires to Naples, where he led the city's underdog team to its first and only two Serie A titles. The women's soccer player of the century award was also divided in two, with China's Sun Wen winning the Internet vote and the United States' Michelle Akers winning the internal FIFA balloting. European champion Real Madrid was voted the FIFA team of the 20th Century on Monday. Real won the award with 42.35 percent of the vote, way ahead of Manchester United in second place with 9.69 percent and Bayern Munich with 9.18 percent. The Dutch national side was chosen as team of the year. For more on Zinedine Zidane, refer to CNNSI.com's profile and Zizou's factfile.
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