FIFA names finalists for player of year
Posted: Tuesday December 15, 1998 02:37 PM
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane of
France, leading scorer Davor Suker of Croatia and two-time holder
Ronaldo were announced as the three finalists Tuesday for FIFA's
Player of the Year award.
The winner -- selected by 129 national coaches -- will be
announced at a ceremony in the Spanish city of Barcelona on February 1,
1999.
The nomination of Inter Milan forward Ronaldo came despite his
disappointing performance in Brazil's 3-0 loss to France in the
World Cup final.
Zidane, by contrast, became a living French legend by scoring
two of the goals in the final after an impressive performance
throughout the tournament.
Suker, who plays for Real Madrid, helped Croatia to its surprise
third-place finish in the finals with six goals - one more than
Italy's Christian Vieri and Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta.
Ronaldo won the honor the past two years. Previous holders have
been Liberia's George Weah, Brazil's Romario, Italy's Roberto
Baggio, Marco Van Basten of the Netherlands and Germany's Lothar
Matthaus.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
