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Figo wins Golden Ball

Europe's most expensive player is also its best

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Luis Figo bested France's Zinedine Zidane, who was named player of the year by FIFA last week. AP

PARIS (Reuters) -- Portugal midfielder Luis Figo, the world's most expensive player, was named European Footballer of the Year on Monday.

Figo, who moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid for US$53 million in July after Portugal were knocked out in the Euro 2000 semifinals, was awarded the "Golden Ball" in a poll of soccer journalists organized by French weekly France Football.

Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane, who won the award in 1998 and was named FIFA World Footballer of the Year last week ahead of Figo, finished second, with AC Milan's Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko third.

Another Frenchman, Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, was fourth.

Figo received 197 points and Zidane 181. Shevchenko, top scorer last season in Serie A, was a distant third on 85 points.

Last year's Golden Ball winner, Barcelona's Brazilian forward Rivaldo, was fifth on 39 points, level with Italy's Alessandro Nesta.

Figo was also named "player of the year" by influential magazine World Soccer.

European Player of the Year Voting
Rk.	Player	Country/Club	Pts.
1	Luis Figo	Portugal/Real Madrid	197
2	Zinedine Zidane	France/Juventus	181
3	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukraine/AC Milan	85
4	Thierry Henry	France/Arsenal	57
t5	Alessandro Nesta	Italy/Lazio	39
t5	Rivaldo	Brazil/Barcelona	39
7	Gabriel Batistuta	Argentina/Roma	26
8	Gaizka Mendieta	Spain/Valencia	22
9	Raul	Spain/Real Madrid	18
10	David Beckham	England/Manchester United	10
Results of voting for France Football's Ballon d'Or

Past European Players of the Year
Year	Player	Country/Club
1956	Stanley Matthews	England/Blackpool
1957	Alfredo Di Stefano	Spain/Real Madrid
1958	Raymond Kopa	France/Real Madrid
1959	Alfredo Di Stefano	Spain/Real Madrid
1960	Luis Suarez	Spain/Barcelona
1961	Omar Sivori	Italy/Juventus
1962	Josef Masopust	Czechoslovakia/Dukla Prague
1963	Lev Yashin	USSR/Dynamo Moscow
1964	Denis Law	Scotland/Manchester United
1965	Eusebio	Portugal/Benfica Lisbon
1966	Bobby Charlton	England/Manchester United
1967	Florian Albert	Hungary/Ferencvaros Budapest
1968	George Best	Northern Ireland/Manchester United
1969	Gianni Rivera	Italy/AC Milan
1970	Gerd Mueller	Germany/Bayern Munich
1971	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands/Ajax Amsterdam
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	Germany/Bayern Munich
1973	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands/Barcelona
1974	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands/Barcelona
1975	Oleg Blochin	USSR/Dynamo Kiev
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	Germany/Bayern Munich
1977	Allan Simonsen	Denmark/Borussia Moenchengladbach
1978	Kevin Keegan	England/SV Hamburg
1979	Kevin Keegan	England/SV Hamburg
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Germany/Bayern Munich
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	Germany/Bayern Munich
1982	Paolo Rossi	Italy/Juventus
1983	Michel Platini	France/Juventus
1984	Michel Platini	France/Juventus
1985	Michel Platini	France/Juventus
1986	Igor Belanov	USSR/Dynamo Kiev
1987	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands/AC Milan
1988	Marco van Basten	Netherlands/AC Milan
1989	Marco van Basten	Netherlands/AC Milan
1990	Lothar Matthaeus	Germany/Inter Milan
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	France/Olympique Marseille
1992	Marco van Basten	Netherlands/AC Milan
1993	Roberto Baggio	Italy/Juventus
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria/Barcelona
1995	George Weah	Liberia/AC Milan
1996	Matthias Sammer	Germany/Borussia Dortmund
1997	Ronaldo	Brazil/Inter Milan
1998	Zinedine Zidane	France/Juventus
1999	Rivaldo	Brazil/Barcelona
2000	Luis Figo	Portugal/Real Madrid

 

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