he was a beast in 1999 he was tearing defenses to shreds in Spain and Europe really was a joy to watch they gave him European player of the year in 1999 or 2000
again not correct- youre confused the year and season, For example: Ballon Dor 1999 = season 1998-99 Figo earned his Ballon Dor 2000 thanks to his Eruo 2000 - nothing to do with season 1998-1999 - which belonged to Rivaldo and done
maybe you are right just remember him having good couple of season in a row around that time and tearing manure a new arse hole
you are also right that ... Figo did have 3 consecutive very good seasons 98/99, 99/00 and 00/01 of which he won Liga best player 98/99, and Ballon Dor 2000, and then WPOY 2001 respectively. I only made that it was clear season 98/99 or year 99 belonged to Rivaldo - (Figo was also very good but not the best there)
Since Ballon D'or voting came up in another thread and is relevant to this thread I thought it would be interesting to go through year by year and try to make sense out of the votes. Maybe some of the more knowledgeable poster can provide insight for votes that might not at first make sense. I find the distribution of first place votes the most interesting, it would be very easy for some journalists to slip in personal biases or hometown favorites in second and third place voting but if you are voting someone #1 you probably have a lot of conviction. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy56.html Five players got first place votes, Matthews 6, Di Stefano 5, Puskas 3, Kopa and Koksis 1. A very split opinion which is not always the case, no clear consensus from voters on who should win this year. The big question here is always Matthews, what specifically happened this season to earn him 6 first place votes? Club wise I have not heard anything specific that people cite. I have heard that he played will for England in 56, especially the 4-2 win over Brazil in London. I can understand Di Stefano not garnering a huge amount of the vote this year, as compared to later seasons, as Madrid finished third in the league 10 points off Bilbao and 9 points of Barcelona. I am somewhat suprised by Puskas and Kocsis getting first place votes. Hungary was not as dominant in this year going 6-2-3, losing to Turkey, Czecholslovakia, and Belgium. They did not play club football in 56 outside of the European Cup, where they lost in the first round. I understand Kopa's first place vote because of his European Cup display. I am surprised that more Russians did not register after their Olympic victory, the biggest international competition of the year. Yashin came in 5th overall with 8 votes between 2nd and 5th place. Streltsov only received one 4th place vote and Igor Neto did not receive any which both surprised me. Also surprised that Schiaffino never had any traction in Balon D'Or voting. He received one vote in both 1956 and 1957 and that is it. Julinho also received only one vote. Also surprised to only see one vote go to a Man U player (Edwards got one 4th place vote) after there impressive title win. Someone like Tommy Taylor seems logical. He scored 25 first division goals to lead Man u to the title and was capped 8 times (Matthews was only capped 5 times in 56) scoring 7 goals including a brace in a 4-2 win versus Brazil, a brace in a 3-0 win versus Yugoslavia, and a hat trick in a 5-2 win versus Denmark. Overall I can understand why the vote was split this year as there is no obvious candidate, but I still am unsure of why it was split the way it was.
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy57.html In 1957 Di Stefano dominates the voting, receiving 12 of the 16 first place votes. He won everything so this is no surprise. Wright, Charles, Bozsik (unsure on why here), and Yashin all got 1 first place vote. After Di Stefano nothing really makes sense as it is just a variety of players all getting a vote here or there. No consensus on a 2nd best player. The 16 second place votes were spread around 11 players with Di Stefano and Kubala getting the most with 3 each. The other players getting votes make decent sense: 7 for Kopa, 6 for Edwards, 5 for Wright (WC qualifying his biggest achievement?), 4 for Kubala, Charles, Streltsov, Taylor (again I am surprised not more after his scoring exploits in the EC, WC qualifying and dominating domestic campaign for Man U), Netto (a year late?), and Gento. Also surprised not a single Fiorentina player got a vote despite the European Cup final run.
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy58.html 1958 seems like clear World Cup vote, but even in that context some of it does not make sense. Also the idea that in a WC year that players from the WC will dominate the voting is refuted as soon as 1962. Kopa dominates the voting with 14 of the 16 first place votes. The other two go to Fontaine and Liedholm. The other players receiving at least 6 votes are Rahn, Hamrin, and Charles. Again all players factoring in to the World Cup. It really looks even more like strictly a world cup vote when you see who is not getting votes, Di Stefano duplicated his feat of last season, winning the European Double which got him an overwhelming majority of the vote in 1957, but in 1958 he did not receive one single vote first place or otherwise. Di Stefano did not play in the WC. This is even stranger when you see Eusebio almost win the award in 1962 despite not playing in the WC and in my opinion having a less impressive European Cup run than Di Stefano in 1958. You would also figure for john Charles to finish higher if both club and WC accomplishments were both being taken into account. If we just look at this as what it appears to be, a WC vote I am still a bit surprised by a few things. First I am surprised that Kopa and Fontaine did not appear to split the vote at all despite Fotaine's record setting performance. I am also surprised that Rahn dominated the second place votes (6) over Harmin (2), Fontaine (2), Liedholm (0), Gren (0), and Blanchflower (0).
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy59.html In 1959 Di Stefano dominates again, winning the European Cup, and getting 14 of the 20 first place votes (comparing this season to last, 58 was probably more impressive with Di Stefano winning the double and being EC top scorer). After Di Stefano the votes are all over the place. The other first place votes went to Charles (2), Suarez (1), Simonsson (1), Gento (1), and Yashin (1). Not sure why Simonsson got a first place vote this year. For total votes the most after Di Stefano is Kopa (14), Simonsson (8), Suarez (8), Charles (7), Tichy (6), and Puskas (5). Surprises here is Fontaine only getting one vote (3rd place) despite being EC top scorer and leading his team to the final without Kopa. No other Stade Reims players received votes either. Only one vote (Liedholm 2nd place) for an AC Milan player (Italian champs), no votes for Wolves players (English Champs).
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy60.html In 1960 we have a major split of the first place vote for the first time since 1956. Unlike 1956 there seems to be a number of good candidates as oppose to a lack of good candidates. First place Votes went as follows: Puskas (5), Suarez (4), Di Stefano (3), Yashin (3), Seeler (2), Kopa (1), Gento (1). I can understand why all of those players would receive first place votes. Suarez wins the overall vote because he got 5 second place votes while Puskas got none, which is strange. Puskas also only got one third place vote. the key to Suarez winning appears to be Di Stefano and Puskas splitting the Real Madrid vote. Surprises for me are that Yashin is the only Soviet (Euro champs) to get a vote, I would have thought Ivanov would be in the mix as well. Also strange that Sivori only gets three votes (1 2nd, 1 3rd, 1 4th) this season but wins the award next year. In 1960 he wins the domestic double, scores 32 in all competitions, and is Serie A top scorer. In 61 when he wins the award he scores 28 in all competitions and wins the Serie A. So with less accomplishments in 1961 was his performance that much better to go from a none factor for the award to winner? Also strange that Antonio Angelillo gets one vote this year but none last year when he had his historic goal scoring run.
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy61.html The voting is more spread out in 1961 than ever before with a total of 43 players receiving votes as oppose to 26 in 1960 and 1959. No consensus with first place votes either as they are spread among 9 players: Sivori 5, Suarez 4, Yashin 3, Haynes 2, Puskas 1, Charles 1, Aguas 1, Grosics 1, Hanappi 1. The only votes Aguas, Grosics, and Hanappi received were the single first place votes. Not sure why Grosics, Yashin, or Hanappi were receiving first place votes this year. Benfica players seem really under voted with Aguas (1 1st), Germano (1 3rd 1 5th), Augusto (1 3rd), Periera (1 4th), Coluna (1 5th), Eusebio (1 5th). I would not be surprised if most of those votes came from one ballot as only one player receives more than one vote. Blanchflower only gets one vote despite leading the Spurs to the first English double this century.
Figo won La Liga best player 1998/1999 but Rivaldo was better? Then why did Figo win the La Liga best player award? Figo was Barcelona's best player in season 1999/2000, so if Figo also was La Liga best player in 1998/1999, that's pretty remarkable don't you think? It's funny how you say that Zidane was the best La Liga player of 2001/2002 just because he won Don Balon's award, and yet when Figo wins the same exact award in 1998/1999 you say that Figo was not the best? How come?
using your analogy : marketing LOL for your info: there are things called Local and Global ... wiki and learn the term LOL for example: 1-Locally to Leadleader limit knowledge: Zidane was so-so in season 2001'-02, but Globally (worldwide) Zidane was the best player entering WC2002 ... LOL 2- R9 won best player of the world, and ballon Dor 1997 (Global) - yet inside barca (Local) they voted (cluelessly) to Enrique as "best Barca player" LOL what a joke and childish insulting to R9's talent !
After looking through the voting you start to see a clear pattern emerge, in some years one player almost sweeps the first place vote and there is a clear consensus on who the top European player is. Many other years you have a player winning by default who does not approach a majority of the first place votes and still wins the award. 1956 winner: Stanley Matthews 37.5% (6/16) of first place vote. 1957 winner: Alfredo Di Stéfano 75% (12/16) of first place vote. 1958 winner: Raymond Kopa 87.5% (14/16) of first place vote. 1959 winner: Alfredo Di Stéfano 70% (14/20) of first place votes. 1960 winner: Luis Suárez 21% (4/19) of first place votes. 1961 winner: Omar Sivori 21% (4/19) of first place votes. 1962 winner: Josef Masopust 47.4% (9/19) of first place votes. 1963 winner: Lev Yashin 52.3% (11/21) of first place votes. 1964 winner: Denis Law 28.6% (6/21) of first place votes. 1965 winner: Eusébio 42.9% (9/21) of first place votes. 1966 winner: Bobby Charlton 54.5% (12/22) of first place votes. 1967 winner: Flórián Albert 33.3% (8/24) of first place votes. 1968 winner: George Best 29.2% (9/25) of first place votes. 1969 winner: Gianni Rivera 53.8% (14/26) of first place votes. 1970 winner: Gerd Müller 29.6% (8/27) of first place votes. 1971 winner: Johan Cruyff 73.1% (19/26) of first place votes. 1972 winner: Franz Beckenbauer 40% (10/25) of first place votes. 1973 winner: Johan Cruyff 62.5% (15/24) of first place votes. 1974 winner: Johan Cruyff 57.7% (15/26) of first place votes. 1975 winner: Oleg Blokhin 76.9% (20/26) of first place votes. 1976 winner Franz Beckenbauer 53.8% (14/26) of first place votes. 1977 winner: Allan Simonsen 26.9% (7/26) of first place votes. 1978 winner: Kevin Keegan 34.6% (9/26) of first place votes. 1979 winner: Kevin Keegan 69.2% (18/26) of first place votes. 1980 winner: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 96% (24/25) of first place votes. 1981 winner: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 65.4% (17/26) of first place votes. 1982 winner: Paolo Rossi 77.8% (21/27) of first place votes. 1983 winner: Michel Platini 69.2% (18/26) of first place votes. 1984 winner: Michel Platini 92.3% (24/26) of first place votes. 1985 winner: Michel Platini 88.5% (23/26) of first place votes. 1986 winner: Igor Belanov 30.8% (8/26) of first place votes. 1987 winner: Ruud Gullit 48.1% (13/27) of first place votes. 1988 winner: Marco van Basten 85.2% (23/27) of first place votes. 1989 winner: Marco van Basten 66.7% (18/27) of first place votes. 1990 winner: Lothar Matthäus 86.2% (25/29) of first place votes. 1991 winner: Jean Pierre Papin 89.7% (26/29) of first place votes. 1992 winner: Marco van Basten 37.9% (11/29) of first place votes. 1993 winner: Roberto Baggio 86.7% (26/30) of first place votes. 1994 winner: Hristo Stoichkov 57.1% (28/49) of first place votes. 1995 winner: George Weah 40.8% (20/49) of first place votes. 1996 winner: Matthias Sammer 26% (13/50) of first place votes. 1997 winner: Ronaldo 74.5% (38/51) of first place votes. 1998 winner: Zinedine Zidane 88.2% (45/51) of first place votes. 1999 winner: Rivaldo 60.8% (31/51) of first place votes. 2000 winner: Luis Figo 39.2% (20/51) of first place votes. 2001 winner: Michael Owen 37.3% (19/51) of first place votes. 2002 winner: Ronaldo 30.5% (16/52) of first place votes. 2003 winner: Pavel Nedved 52.9% (27/52) of first place votes. 2004 winner: Andriy Shevchenko 52.9% (27/52) of first place votes. 2005 winner: Ronaldinho 63.5% (33/52) of first place votes. 2006 winner: Fabio Cannavaro 38.5% (20/52) of first place votes. 2007 winner: Kaka 81.3% (78/96) of first place votes. 2008 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo 80.2% (77/96) of first place votes. 2009 winner: Lionel Messi 93.8% (90/96) of first place votes. 2010 winner: Lionel Messi 26.1% (111/426) of first place votes. 2011 winner: Lionel Messi 76.6% (356/465) of first place votes. 2012 winner: Lionel Messi 59.5% (303/509) of first place votes. 2013 winner: Cristiano Ronaldo 30.9% (167/541) of first place votes. Breaking it down into three categories. Players who won a clear majority of the vote (60% <) in descending order. Suprises here were Rummenigge with the most decisive win ever in 1980. I would have guessed that would be in the over 60% catagoty but not this high. Papin 1991 (would have throught the Red Star players would have taken more of the vote), Zidane 1998 (In a WC year surprised he did so well despite not being in the top three Golden/Silver/Bronze Ball awards, although that was voted before the final), Rossi 1982 (suprised he could do this well on the WC alone with a nothing club year), Blokhin 1975 (lack of competition?) are all higher than expected. 1980 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 96% 2009 Lionel Messi 93.8% 1984 Michel Platini 92.3% 1991 Jean Pierre Papin 89.7% 1985 Michel Platini 88.5% 1998 Zinedine Zidane 88.2% 1993 Roberto Baggio 86.7% 1958 Raymond Kopa 87.5% 1990 Lothar Matthäus 86.2% 1988 Marco van Basten 85.2% 2007 Kaka 81.3% 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo 80.2% 1982 Paolo Rossi 77.8% 1975 Oleg Blokhin 76.9% 2011 Lionel Messi 76.6% 1957 Alfredo Di Stéfano 75% 1997 Ronaldo 74.5% 1971 Johan Cruyff 73.1% 1959 Alfredo Di Stéfano 70% 1983 Michel Platini 69.2% 1979 Kevin Keegan 69.2% 1989 Marco van Basten 66.7% 1981 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 65.4% 2005 Ronaldinho 63.5% 1973 Johan Cruyff 62.5% 1999 Rivaldo 60.8% Players who won close to a majority ( 40% < > 60%). Some years are examples of two very accomplished players splitting a vote (1974), other year just recognize a moderate consensus with one player receiving around 50% and the other votes spread out (2004). Surprised Charlton 66 was not lower thought the England vote would split with Moore and he would lose votes to Eusebio, but he won all the England vote. Thought Yashin would be lower, but won a majority over Rivera and Greaves based on one all star games. Would have though Eusebio 65 would be higher and have gotten a clear majority. 2012 Lionel Messi 59.5% 1974 Johan Cruyff 57.7% 1994 Hristo Stoichkov 57.1% 1966 Bobby Charlton 54.5% 1969 Gianni Rivera 53.8% 1976 Franz Beckenbauer 53.8% 2003 Pavel Nedved 52.9% 2004 Andriy Shevchenko 52.9% 1963 Lev Yashin 52.3% 1987 Ruud Gullit 48.1% 1962 Josef Masopust 47.4% 1965 Eusébio 42.9% 1995 George Weah 40.8% 1972 Franz Beckenbauer 40% Players who won win far less than a majority (40% >), almost all of these are seasons where no majority was reached at all (exceptions are Figo 2000 van Basten 92 where two accomplished players split the vote). Basically someone had to win. A lot of the winners being discussed in this thread are here. Big surprises here are Sivori 61 being joint last place finisher and Best 68/Muller 70 as well being so low. I had always had an impression they were clearly on top. Charlton and Drajic took a tome of votes from Best in 68. Moore and Riva took a surprisingly large number of votes from Muller in 1970. Sivori had no consensus at all and seemed to win by default. 2000 Luis Figo 39.2% 2006 Fabio Cannavaro 38.5% 1992 Marco van Basten 37.9% 1956 Stanley Matthews 37.5% 2001 Michael Owen 37.3% 1978 Kevin Keegan 34.6% 1967 Flórián Albert 33.3% 2013 Cristiano Ronaldo 30.9% 1986 Igor Belanov 30.8% 2002 Ronaldo 30.5% 1968 George Best 29.2% 1964 Denis Law 28.6% 1977 Allan Simonsen 26.9% 1970 Gerd Müller 29.6% 2010 Lionel Messi 26.1% 1996 Matthias Sammer 26% 1960 Luis Suárez 21% 1961 Omar Sivori 21%
@Tom Stevens Did you see this from a few pages back? http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/the-worst-ballon-dor-winner.2012564/page-4#post-31353053
Good work though, but the quoted section made me think you hadn't noticed it (i.e. George Best surprisingly lowish). I myself laid the threshold at 35% of 1st place votes, because I thought that the decision is often split between two or three achieving players anyway. There's an inherent tendency to limit the number of individual competitors (which sport marketeers say), though perhaps today more so as in the past. Anyway, that there are three competitors doesn't necessarily make someone a weak winner, and I thought it isn't too rare to have two/three rivals, so I myself placed it at 35%. Below 35% signals that four, five or more candidates were in the running. For the percentage of total points I laid it at 65%, because that means a winner got a little more as a third place vote. I thought someone might be regarded as an inconclusive winner when the average voter had him on third place - or lower.
Good work Tom. However one should also consider who and how they won in majority vs minority. For example, - if Pele compete to Di Stefano in 59 that would be close and one could not say Pele won (example) by minority? - other case that Messi won 2012 over ... Iniesta? LOL of course it would be a massive majority
My opinion : MATTHEWS in 1956 didn't deserve it at all (it was more a sort of "honorary" achievement given to one of the greatest players in history up to that point). This is for me the clearest case in which a winner didn't deserve the prize in a specific year. However, he was obviously not the "worst" Ballon d'Or winner. Paolo Rossi - even though I'm Italian, I think he is vastly overrated. Possibly the worst player to ever receive the award together with Belanov. However, Rossi had a much stronger case to win the award in 1982 than Matthews had in 1956. Even though Matthews was a much better player than him. Do you see what I mean? Simonsen in 1977 probably deserved the award, even if he was one of the worst Ballon d'Or winner in terms of abilities. Certainly, if he had played in the 60s, he would never have been anywhere near the top 5. He was just lucky I also have many doubts about the award given to Keegan in 1979 (and possibly even Van Basten in 1992). Owen in 2001 PROBABLY didn't really deserve it (I would have personally given it to Raul), but that was not so clear / evident. Owen had a very strong year in 2001.
So what makes MvB one of the worst winners? Other than winning the European Cup, what is there in favour of Stoichkov? More or less a classic example of giving it to the player with the (important) trophies vs the individual performer. Was another player markedly better, or was it a year with overall weak candidates.
Yeah I think it was probably a "weak year". Not only there were not so many legend-level players around, but the European Championship was unexpectedly won by Denmark, a team with -I guess- no world class player in it (apart maybe from Schmeichel). Michael Laudrup was not part of the team. Van Basten was probably still the best player in overall terms at the time, but he didn't play in the European cups and didn't score in the European Championship with the Netherlands. However, there was not so much competition for the award. Stoichkov would be an obvious choice, with his central role in La Liga + Champions League, but failed with his national team and didn't even qualify for Euro 92. I guess that a strong case could be made for Ronald Koeman, key player in La Liga trophy (scoring 16 goals though he played in a defensive position...) and victory in the Champions Leage. He scored only one goal in that Champions League, but it was that hell of a free-kick which awarded the trophy to Barcelona. And he played all the matches for Holland at Euro 92 (scoring his penalty kick in the semifinal). I'm surprised that he was voted only 8th in the Ballon d'Or's final ranking. Anyway, Van Basten's 1992 case is one of the least controversial in my list of controversial cases After all, the award could have been given to him, I just feel that in that year he didn't emerge as a clear winner.
you are actually spot on. Basten won in 1992 for more like a redemption award after he came back from injury and was still able to play great! However I agree that he was not in the list of "least deserved" - not whatsoever
Right, sooo I think it would be interesting to compare our opinions about who should have won the Ballon D'Or in any particular year, and (perhaps) who should have won it if it was open (like today) to all players in the world. My guesses for the first editions are: 1956: WINNER: Di Stefano. 2nd / 3rd places: Kopa and Yashin. (NOTE 1: I wouldn't put Matthews in the top 3) (NOTE 2: I wouldn't even name Puskas, as much as I love him, because he missed the whole of 1956 due to his known political problems. It surprises me that he was voted 4th. Generally, I have the impression that the first edition of the Ballon d'Or considered players' "greatness", and not so much their performances in that particular year.) This top-3 would remain the same for me even if I broadened my perspective to consider the whole world. 1957: WINNER: Di Stefano. 2nd / 3rd places: Kopa and Edwards. And if I had to consider the whole world I'd probably give a chance to Angelillo for the third place. 1958: WINNER: Kopa. 2nd: Di Stefano. 3rd: Fontaine. (Sivori would be 4th.) (NOTE: I can't see any South American-born player in the ranking for this year. Did they modify the Ballon d'Or rules for 1958 so that players like Di Stefano and Sivori would not be eligible?) And if I had to consider the whole world: 1st: PELE'. 2nd: Kopa. 3rd. Di Stefano. (probably Didi' would be 4th)
Rossi - he stopped the brazilian team 1982 ( the most beautiful football I´ve ever seen) and it was the biggest crime in the history of football.