Figo's first

Portugal star is FIFA world player of year

Luis Figo edged out Manchester United midfielder David Beckham. Phil Cole/Allsport

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- Real Madrid's Luis Figo was named FIFA World Player of the Year on Monday -- the first Portuguese player to receive the award.

Figo won ahead of England captain David Beckham, who plays for Manchester United. Figo's Real Madrid teammate Raul Gonzalez, of Spain, was third.

"I'm delighted to receive this trophy," the Portuguese international was quoted as saying on Real Madrid's Web site.

"I'd like to thank my teammates for their support and help in winning it and I dedicate the award to them, to my family and to my friends, above all to my wife and daughter."

Figo added: "I think my two colleagues, and a lot more players throughout the world, deserve it just as much for the work we've all done in our teams. In the end, I was the one lucky enough to win it."

The award, based on the votes of 130 national team coaches, was presented to Figo at a glittering ceremony in Zurich, the city where FIFA -- the international soccer governing body -- is based.

Figo, 29, was voted runner-up in last year's award.

He began his career with Sporting Lisbon before moving to Barcelona in 1995. He made his national debut at the age of 19 but came to international prominence for his outstanding performance during the Euro 2000 tournament, where he was considered by many to be the best player.

After the tournament Figo made a controversial transfer from Barcelona to rival Real Madrid for the then record sum of US$56 million. That record has since been broken when Real paid US$65 million for France's Zinedine Zidane -- twice winner of the FIFA World Player award.

Since the award was introduced in 1991, it has been won four times by Brazilians -- Ronaldo twice, Rivaldo and Romario -- and twice by Zidane.

Other winners include Marco van Basten of the Netherlands, Lothar Matthaus of Germany, Italy's Roberto Baggio and George Weah of Liberia.

For the first time, FIFA also made an award for the best female player of the year. The honor went to U.S. star Mia Hamm.

Hamm, 29, has made 219 appearances for her country and scored 129 international goals. She plays for Washington Freedom in the newly created U.S. women's professional league.

She was honored ahead of Sun Wen of China and Tiffeny Milbrett of the United States. Seventy-two coaches voted.

"She's been the icon of women's soccer so it's only fitting," Milbrett said of her teammate on the U.S. national squad.

Hamm was not at the ceremony. FIFA said she could not attend "for professional and personal reasons."

Meanwhile, Liverpool striker Michael Owen won France Football magazine's prestigious Golden Ball award on Monday, becoming the first English player to do so in more than a generation.

Figo character earns him award

MADRID -- The awarding of FIFA's World Soccer Player of 2001 to Luis Figo is a testament to the Portuguese international's resilience as much as his brilliance on the field.

Real Madrid's midfielder has needed to demonstrate his mettle since his controversial world-record US$56 million move from arch-rival Barcelona in July 2000.

Figo's arrival was treated with initial suspicion by many Real Madrid fans -- some whistled him in his early appearances -- while he was instantly transformed into a Judas-like figure in the eyes of the Catalan club's fans.

He was forced to run the gauntlet of an earsplitting reception by Barcelona supporters, who chanted "Figo die!" on his return to the Nou Camp in October 2000.

"Now I'm more determined than ever to triumph at Real Madrid," Figo said after the game. 'Scores are not settled until the end of the season."

How right he was.

The star won Madrid supporters over by regularly showing his talent for running at -- and beating -- defenders as well as his supreme crossing ability.

By June, Figo had hit the net eight times but had created many more of his new team's 81-goal league total as Madrid cruised to its first title for four years. Barcelona finished fourth, 17 points adrift.

He cheekily agreed to become the public face of a Portuguese bank's advertising campaign whose slogan was "Change is always good if it's for the better."

And he put the icing on the cake by netting his first goal against his former club on Nov. 4, his 29th birthday.

In the international arena, Figo contributed to Portugal's qualification -- and Holland's elimination -- for the World Cup 2002.

His major disappointment of the past 12 months was undoubtedly Madrid's Champions League knockout at the semifinal stage by the eventual winner Bayern Munich.

Figo began this season far below his best form, perhaps hampered by Zidane's arrival at the club, but has shown a marked improvement recently -- as has Madrid, which now heads the table again.

Born Luis Filipe Madeira Figo Caeiro in Lisbon in 1972, the midfielder is generally viewed as Portugal's best player since the Mozambique-born Benfica star of the sixties, Eusebio.

His first international success was a winners' medal in the European Under-16 championship and he went on to lead Portugal to the world Under-20 title in 1991.

He moved from Sporting Lisbon to Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in 1995 and helped the Catalan club to two Spanish titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and the European Cup Winners Cup.

One of the stars of the Euro 2000 tournament, his performances inspired Portugal to reach the semifinals, where it lost to champion France through a golden-goal penalty by Zinedine Zidane.

A year ago, Figo won France Football magazine's prestigious Golden Ball prize for the player of the year but finished runner-up to Zidane for the FIFA award.

Figo has gone one better this time round, seeing off the challenge of his Madrid teammate Raul Gonzalez and Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, in the view of the world's national coaches.

"He is a coach's dream. He's a born worker and has great individual qualities," the former England manager Bobby Robson, who trained Figo at Sporting and Barcelona, once said.

"He's a marvelously generous player and is in a class of his own."

This year also brought Figo's marriage to the Swedish model Helen Svedin in Madrid in May. The couple have a young daughter, Daniela.

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