As shown by the RSSSF: "The French weekly magazine France-Football consulted their former "Ballon D'Or" winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. Among the 34 former "Ballon D'Or" winners (from 1956 to 1999) only 30 of the voted: Matthews, Sivori and Best refused to vote, and Yashin is dead. Each of the 30 voters choose 5 players: 5 points for the 1st place, 4 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th and 1 point for 5th. But Di Stefano only choose a 1st place, Platini a 1st and 2nd place, and Weah 2 players for 5th place (giving ½ point to each one). After each player points, between brackets is the number of votes for every place. 1. Edson Arantes do Nascimento "PELÉ" (Brazil) 122 pts (17 - 5 - 4 - 2 - 1) 2. Diego MARADONA (Argentina) 65 ( 3 - 6 - 5 - 5 - 1) 3. Johan CRUYFF (Netherlands) 62 ( 1 - 4 - 7 - 9 - 2) 4. Alfredo DI STEFANO (Argentina/Spain) 44 ( 4 - 3 - 3 - 1 - 1) 5. Michel PLATINI (France) 40 ( 1 - 5 - 1 - 3 - 6) 6. Franz BECKENBAUER (Germany) 35 ( 2 - 1 - 3 - 3 - 6) 7. Ferenc PUSKAS (Hungary) 12 ( 0 - 3 - 0 - 0 - 0) 8. Marco VAN BASTEN (Netherlands) 11 ( 0 - 0 - 3 - 1 - 0) 9. Artur Antunes Coimbra "ZICO" (Brazil) 7 ( 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0) 10. Gerd MÜLLER (Germany) 5 ( 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0) Lev YASHIN (Soviet Union) 5 ( 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1) 12. Enzo FRANCESCOLI (Uruguay) 4 ( 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 0) Manoel Francisco dos Santos "GARRINCHA" (Brazil) 4 ( 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 1) George BEST (Northern Ireland) 4 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0) 15. Rafael GORDILLO (Spain) 3 ( 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0) 16. Bobby CHARLTON (England) 2.5 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 3) 17. ROMÁRIO de Souza Faria (Brazil) 2 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0) 18. Roberto BAGGIO (Italy) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) Oleg BLOKHIN (Soviet Union) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) Just FONTAINE (France) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) Raymond KOPA (France) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) Fritz WALTER (Germany) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) Dino ZOFF (Italy) 1 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1) 24. Roger MILLA (Cameroon) 0.5 ( 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 1)" So the only thing this reveals about an individual's vote is that George Weah voted for Bobby Charlton and Roger Milla in joint 5th place. As Matthews, Sivori, Best and Yashin didn't vote, the 30 Balon D'or winners which voted were as follows: Alfredo Di Stefano (only 1st place) Raymond Kopa Luis Suarez Josef Masopust Denis Law Eusebio Bobby Charlton Florian Albert Gianni Rivera Gerd Muller Johan Cruyff Franz Beckenbauer Oleg Blokhin Alan Simonsen Kevin Keegan Karl-Heinz Rummenigge Paolo Rossi Michel Platini (only 1st and 2nd place) Igor Belanov Ruud Gullit Marco van Basten Lothar Matthaus Jean-Pierre Papin Roberto Bagio Hristo Stoichkov George Weah (with Charlton and Milla joint 5th place) Matthias Sammer Ronaldo Zinedine Zidane Rivaldo. Of course the breakdown of the voting may be available, but I haven't seen it or been able to find it. Do you have any ideas about who voted for which players? Who put Rafael Gordillo in 3rd place? Was it Zidane that put Francescoli in 2nd? Who did Johan Cruyff vote in 1st? (The number of votes are shown in brackets after the players name and total points so for example Pele got 17 1st place votes (worth 5pts), 5 2nd place votes, 4 3rd place votes, 2 4th place votes and 1 5th place vote)
Would love to see the breakdown, but doubt we'll find it anywhere. Maybe contact the magazine? My first thought about Gordillo was that somebody who played with him gave him the vote but non of the Ballon D'or winners did ....
Yeah, Suarez is Spanish but played for Barcelona. Been trying to form my guesses, and at the moment I'm thinking maybe it was Suarez.
Research. No he started in September 1988 as a coach and Gordillo played his last game in June. Suarez was assistant coach of the Spanish NT at the WC 82 & 86 though.
OK, here's my guess though it could be vastly wrong and I expect it's at least slightly wrong. I've stuck to Suarez picking Gordillo - I was thinking if maybe Oleg Blokhin might've picked him but it seemed a silly idea. Also, though I know Zidane idolised Francescoli, I've guessed Rivaldo might've been the one to pick him with Zidane casting one of Platini's 2nd place votes. Rivaldo could've grown-up watching Francescoli in South America. And I thought for a while that Ronaldo might've voted for Best as one of 5 great dribblers, but thought it more likely to be Keegan voting for Best - I'd had Zico in van Basten's list which is possible but I think Ronaldo picking Zico is more likely: Alfredo Di Stefano - Pele. Raymond Kopa - Di Stefano, Pele, Cruyff, Platini, Fontaine. Luis Suarez - Pele, Di Stefano, Gordillo, Cruyff, Platini. Josef Masopust - Di Stefano, Puskas, Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer. Denis Law - Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Best, Charlton. Eusebio -Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Yashin. Bobby Charlton - Di Stefano, Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Platini. Florian Albert - Pele, Puskas, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Maradona. Gianni Rivera - Pele, Di Stefano, van Basten, Cruyff, Baggio. Gerd Muller - Beckenbauer, Pele, Cruyff, Di Stefano, Walter. Johan Cruyff - Pele, Maradona, Di Stefano, van Basten, Platini. Franz Beckenbauer - Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Platini, Charlton. Oleg Blokhin - Cruyff, Yashin, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Platini. Alan Simonsen - Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Platini, Beckenbauer. Kevin Keegan - Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Best, Beckenbauer. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Maradona, Platini. Paolo Rossi - Pele, Platini, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Zoff. Michel Platini - Pele, Maradona. Igor Belanov - Platini, Cruyff, Maradona, Pele, Blokhin. Ruud Gullit - Maradona, Pele, van Basten, Beckenbauer, Cruyff. Marco van Basten - Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Beckenbauer, Platini. Lothar Matthaus - Beckenbauer, Di Stefano, Maradona, Cruyff, Pele. Jean-Pierre Papin - Muller, Platini, van Basten, Pele, Kopa. Roberto Baggio - Pele, Cruyff, Platini, Maradona, Beckenbauer. Hristo Stoichkov - Maradona, Puskas, Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer. George Weah - Pele, Platini, Di Stefano, Maradona, Charlton/Milla. Matthias Sammer - Pele, Platini, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Di Stefano. Ronaldo - Pele, Maradona, Garrincha, Zico, Cruyff. Zinedine Zidane - Maradona, Platini, Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer. Rivaldo - Zico, Francescoli, Pele, Romario, Garrincha.
Does it say anywhere you couldn't vote for yourself? There are a few big egos listed there, I wouldn't put it past them. Also, I know for a fact that Zidane was the one who voted for Enzo Francescoli, as he's often quoted as saying that he was his favourite player growing up, and he of course, as most people know, even named his son after him.
No, only that they are both French and I know Zidane said he used to be Platini in the playground. There would be no particular debate as to who was better out of Platini and Zidane at that stage in France either. I did see an interview with Zidane a year or so ago on Real Madrid TV with the interviewer saying Zidane must be top 5 ever as there was Di Stefano (they wouldn't miss him out), Pele, Maradona... Zidane said "Cruyff" but then didn't offer another option so the interviewer again said Zidane was top 5 ever. So Platini wasn't mentioned in that interview. I guess Zidane could've been the one to vote Cruyff 1st but I've not heard of him saying anything else in praise of him.
I understood you can't vote for yourself, but maybe Platini just voted for himself and Yashin lol. And yeah I initially assumed Zidane voted for Francescoli because of that reason (I saw a mis-quote he was named after Scifo also before). He probably did and I'm trying to be too clever (and also to produce a complete list of guesses), but I suppose favourite and best aren't the same thing and I felt Rivaldo might just've voted for him.
If you can't vote for yourself, then actually due to the need to be a Balon D'or winner to vote, Cruyff is at a disadvantage if he votes for his competitors becuase Pele and Maradona wouldn't be voting for him (and Di Stefano and Platini might not've done with their voting policy). Wouldn't make a lot of difference though - he could've tied with Maradona probably by voting himself 3rd.
Platini quite certainly voted for Cruyff. He often said that he was the player he admired the most. He certainly didn't vote for Maradona as he never thought he was superior to him, even if he had a lot of respect for him. His second vote might be for Pele... unless he voted for himself (that would not be surprising...).
Yeah I did think Platini had been a fan of Cruyff, but I also thought he'd said Pele was the greatest at some stage and also that what Zidane could do with a ball, Maradona could do with an orange plus other things implying Maradona was one of the best. Maybe he voted for Pele and Cruyff. You don't know whether France Football would have ever published the voting breakdown or would provide it? EDIT Just recalled Platini being full of praise for Di Stefano too when Uefa honoured him I think, but you'd expect that I guess. Not sure why he only voted for 2 players - maybe he only thought 2 were better than him (and Di Stefano thought only 1 was)?
Well first of all, the formula (with 30+ samplings of votes) is not good enough. Second of all, each voters should have chance to vote for himself i.e. Maradona could have thought and believed he was the greatest and nothing wrong with it! In fact they should have not shown the outcome as "official" since the formula does not hold enough weights = it ONLY shows "WHO liked WHOM" among the legends themselves, NO MORE NO LESS
Real votes Votants 1 2 3 4 5 Matthews (dead) Di Stefano-Maradona Kopa-Pele, Puskas, di Stefano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer Suarez-di Stefano, Pele, Cruyff, Platini, Charlton Sivori(no comment) Masopust -Pele, di Stefano, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Platini Yashin ( dead) Law- di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Best, Beckenbauer Eusebio- Pele, di Stefano, Garrincha, Maradona, Charlton Charlton-di Stefano, Platini,Pele, Maradona, Cruyff Florian Albert-Pele, Puskas, di Stefano, Cruyff, Kopa George Best(no comment) Rivera- Pele, Maradona, di Stefano, Beckenbauer, Cruyff Mueller- Di Stefano, Puskas,Beckenbauer, Pele, Fontaine Cruyff -Beckenbauer, Platini, van Basten, Cruyff, Pele Beckenbauer- Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, di Stefano, Yachine Blokhine-Pele, Yachine, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Blokhine Simonsen - Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Platini,Beckenbauer Keegan-Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Best, Platini Rummenigge-Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona, di Stefano Rossi-Pele, Maradona, Platini, Cruyff, Zoff Platini-Pele, Cruyff Belanov-Platini, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer Gullit-Cruyff, Pele, Gordillo, Maradona, Platini Van Basten-Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Platini,Beckenbauer Matthaeus-Mueller, Platini, Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer Papin-Pele, Maradona, van Basten, Beckenbauer, Platini Baggio-Maradona, di Stefano, Pele, van Basten, Baggio Stoitchkov-Pele, Platini, Cruyff, Romario, Maradona Weah-Pele, Platini, Cruyff, Maradona, Milla-Charlton Sammer-Beckenbauer, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Walter Ronaldo-Zico, Maradona, Pele, Cruyff, Platini Zidane-Maradona, Francescoli, van Basten, Pele, Platini Rivaldo-Pele, Cruyff, Maradona, Zico, Garrincha The source: http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=242098&page=26
Thanks Gregoire, at first glance my predictions were a bit off overall. I didn't honestly expect they'd be voting for themselves. I see on the Xtratime thread somebody thinks Cruyff's vote was entered backwards by mistake. As the Balon D'or winners can vote for themselves, that gives them a potential advantage compared to Pele/Maradona etc, but still a disadvantage if they choose not to vote for themselves. Gullit voting Cruyff first wouldn't have been suprising except I've heard him say on Sky he thinks Maradona was the best (he also says so in FourFourTwo) and he seems to cite the time he played in the same league as Maradona though who knows he may have been further influenced/changed his mind over the last decade.
I got Allan Simonsen's correct! But nobody else's although I was close on van Basten's. I guessed some of the individual placings - Belanov putting Platini 1st maybe the most difficult to guess...Papin putting van Basten 3rd for example is a bit more predictable and Florian Albert putting his countryman Puskas 2nd would be an example of an obvious likely placing, likewise Rivaldo (whose other votes were more 'standard' than I had him down for) putting Garrincha 5th. I nearly had George Weah's thanks to the 5th place 'clue' but had Di Stefano 3rd when it was Cruyff - possibly a case of having a Di Stefano 3rd place left over having used all the Cruyff 3rd place votes when I was guessing, though cos I knew he'd put Charlton tied in 5th I thought he may have put Di Stefano (only slightly earlier era, some similar qualities) ahead of him.
I really don't think that listing is right. Cruyff for instance, has always said that Di Stefano was his idol, but he didn't even put him in the top 5?
LOL , He said (during an interview) that Di Stefano was his idol at youth , but then he REFUSED to come and play for Real Madrid - joining Barca a rival team! Knowing Cruyff's big ego, I don;t really think he had any idol in his mind, but HIMSEF
"I could be a new Di Stefano,but not a new Pelé.He is the only one who transpasses the logical limits." Cruyff
I read this quite a few times on this board but I do not know how people get this idea. Yes, 'some' people here posted some distorted info, like the 'Cruyff cost Holland two World Cups' nonsense but he is not more or less egocentric as every other (former) good player. I do not see how Pelé has a smaller ego for example. Anyhow, my 2cents. I'm certain that Van Basten had Maradona on first place. He has expressed this numerous times and very consistently. Maradona is for him the greatest. Because Florian Albert received no votes, which is strange because Cruijff always mentioned him, I'm certain that Cruijff voted for Di Stefano. I doubt about Gullit. He has expressed as many different opinions as the wives he betrayed. If I have to make a guess, I think he had Pelé on first place but he has been very inconsistent with his views. Depending on who pays him
It was not an idea. Cruijff gave people such an impression ... look at few of his quotes (mostly about himself ... great) - I don’t make a lot of mistakes, because it’s hard for me to be wrong… ... and quickly he answered it ... by - Before I make a mistake, I see it coming and then don’t make it. .. sometimes he got caught redhand he said ... - yeah I know it’s wrong officially, but it sounds better…. - I can manage pretty well in all aspects of the game. Kicking the ball is the least important one. (yet .. alot of players would dream to kick like him does) - I am not religious. In Spain, all 22 players pray for the match and make a cross before they enter the pitch. If that would work, we would only have draws. And we don’t. So, I have proven that there is no such thing as a God you can ask for things. - Principally, I am against everything. Until I decide differently, that I’m pro. ... ==================================== Now if we compare to Pele's one lately : Messi would only become the best (player) ever if he would win 3 WC's and start scoring >1000goals His is much more reasonable ... no?