Figo Fifa World Footballer of the Year, Michael Owen European Footballer of the Year

Red Tide

Guest
European Footballer of the Year 2001 published by French
magazine France Football on Monday:
1. Michael Owen (England) Liverpool 176 points
2. Raul (Spain) Real Madrid 140
3. Oliver Kahn (Germany) Bayern Munich 114
4. David Beckham (England) Manchester United 102
5. Francesco Totti (Italy) AS Roma 57
6. Luis Figo (Portugal) Real Madrid 56
7. Rivaldo (Brazil) Barcelona 20
8. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) AC Milan 18
9= Thierry Henry (France) Arsenal 14
9= Zinedine Zidane (France) Real Madrid 14
11. Bixente Lizarazu (France) Bayern Munich 10
12. David Trezeguet (France) Juventus 7
13. Stefan Effenberg (Germany) Bayern Munich 6
14= Henrik Larsson (Sweden) Celtic 4
14= Alessandro Nesta (Italy) Lazio 4
16= Hernan Crespo (Argentina) Lazio 3
16= Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina) Manchester United 3
18= Elber (Brazil) Bayern Munich 2
18= Sami Hyypia (Finland) Liverpool 2
18= Gaizka Mendieta (Spain) Lazio 2
18= Emmanuel Olisadebe (Poland) Panathinaikos 2
18= Roberto Carlos (Brazil) Real Madrid 2
18= Ebbe Sand (Denmark) Schalke 04 2
18= Damiano Tommasi (Italy) AS Roma 2
25= Roberto Baggio (Italy) Brescia 1
25= Steven Gerrard (England) Liverpool 1
25= Rui Costa (Portugal) AC Milan 1
 
What a load of crap. For example:

Owen wins the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup and another pointless trophy. Scores lots of goals and plays well. He wins the award.

Elber wins the Champions League and the Bunderslega (sp?), scores lots of goals along the way and plays and gets only 2 points!.
 
FIFA Player of the Year 2001


1 - Luis Figo (250 cumulative votes)
2 - David Beckham (238)
3 - Raul (96)
4 - Zinedine Zidane (94)
5 - Rivaldo (92)
6 - Juan Sebastian Veron (71)
7 - Oliver Kahn (65)
8 - Michael Owen (61)
9 - Andrei Shevchenko (46)
10 - Francesco Totti 40

Selected others:
11 - Thierry Henry (15)
13 - Patrick Vieira (13)
14 - Henrik Larsson (9)
17= - Alen Boksic (5)
19= - Ruud van Nistelrooy (4)
29= - Steven Gerrard (1)
29= - Roy Keane (1)

Well David Beckham has now been second in this award in the past three years and I wonder if he will ever win it.

I believe this was his best chance to win it and unless he does something special in Japan/Korea I doubt he will ever reach those heights again.

The only way I believe people would start voting for him is if he moves abroad. No British player has ever won this and a high money move to, say Real Madrid, would kickstart his career and people would take notice.

Figo deserves it, but notice how he signed from Barcelona to Real Madrid for almost £40million, a big money move makes people sit up and notice.


European Footballer of the Year rankings
Player Country Points
1 Michael Owen England 176
2 Raul Spain 140
3 Oliver Kahn Germany 114
4 David Beckham England 102
5 Francesco Totti Italy 57
6 Luis Figo Portugal 56
7 Rivaldo Brazil 20
8 Andrei Shevchenko Ukraine 18
=9 Thierry Henry France 14
=9 Zinedine Zidane France 14


As for Owen, well Owen has had a good year and I myself did not think he would win it.

But to be fair I do not really take this award seriously - the fact that Oliver Kahn was third says it all to be honest.
 
Originally posted by Raoul:
<strong>BTW, I would rather have seen Owen win the Fifa award as well, rather than Figo.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Fecking hell, i thought i was about to pass out
Click to expand...
 
Figo is an arrogant fecker who seems to be living off the fumes of his reputation rather than results on the pitch. I would rather see Shevchenko or Owen get it.
 
Originally posted by Raoul:
<strong>I would rather see Shevchenko or Owen get it.</strong><hr></blockquote>


Agree with you on that point, Schevchenko was worthy of one of those awards as well as Owen
Click to expand...
 
so what with Thommos manager of the month that must be 10 trophys pool have won this yr.

All them trophys but the one they really want they cant have :(
 
Originally posted by Murt:
<strong>so what with Thommos manager of the month that must be 10 trophys pool have won this yr.

All them trophys but the one they really want they cant have :( </strong><hr></blockquote>

You really are a bitter cnut aren't you
Click to expand...
 
congrats to owen, but who honestly gives a shit about these awards?
 
Originally posted by Jens:
<strong>congrats to owen, but who honestly gives a shit about these awards?</strong><hr></blockquote>

The players do, which is why i'm happy for him
Click to expand...
 
in fairness i think these awards are a load of old bollox and are only used as an excuse for the suits in uefa to get a free holiday to monte carlo!!
ok fair enough owen definitely deserves his award he is a brillant player but look at the facts behind these awards:

1) last year the jamacian coach voted paulo wnachope the third best player in the world <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laugh Out Loud]" /> what the......

2) the costa rican coach voted him the best in the world. and the costa rican coach cant even vote for him and his vote still stood :o

3) in the european award they are nominated by the french magazine.so can anyone, anywhere please try and explain to me how the hell did roy keane not get nominated in the top fifty.it is a total shambles.here is a player that single handedly took ireland to the world cup while being surrounded by the silky skills of gary breen,the finesse of richard dunne and the striking prowess of david connelly.

4)also you must conform to the followng criteria;a) be the darling of your nation (owen in ingerland or raul of spain) (b) be recoginsed more on the international scene as a celebrity (beckham , figo) or (c) which is most likely be a striker or attacking midfielder.

this takes nothing away from owen, he is a great talent and i wish he was irish and he did not make the above criteria but what about keano what an absolute disgrace :mad: <img src="graemlins/devil.gif" border="0" alt="[Devil]" /> <img src="graemlins/devil.gif" border="0" alt="[Devil]" />
 
Congrad to Owen he deserved it. Single-handedly beat Arsenal in FA Cup final and the main force to help England qualify for WC. Without Owen Liverpool and England are just nothing.
 
Fully agree with Owen getting the world player as well instead of Figo.
Showed no class to comment on Beckham not deserving it whilst in the running himself.

Congrats to Owen although I think it is silly that the two awards can be so far apart in opinions.
But I guess that is what it boils down to......Opinions.
 
It's a shame so much stock is put in these awards because after all, they are only opinions.

I was about to comment on the FIFA award being the credible award but then read and remembered the 'Wanchope' vote!

Unfortunately, public opinion is swayed by these awards and historical footy-lore is formed from them. I just can't see how two 'prestigious and official' awards can be taken seriously when they are so different. My point being this:

European Footballer of the Year 2001 published by French magazine France Football on Monday:
1. Michael Owen (England) Liverpool 176 points
2. Raul (Spain) Real Madrid 140
3. Oliver Kahn (Germany) Bayern Munich 114
4. David Beckham (England) Manchester United 102
5. Francesco Totti (Italy) AS Roma 57
6. Luis Figo (Portugal) Real Madrid 56
7. Rivaldo (Brazil) Barcelona 20
8. Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine) AC Milan 18
9= Thierry Henry (France) Arsenal 14
9= Zinedine Zidane (France) Real Madrid 14

FIFA Player of the Year 2001

1 - Luis Figo (250 cumulative votes)
2 - David Beckham (238)
3 - Raul (96)
4 - Zinedine Zidane (94)
5 - Rivaldo (92)
6 - Juan Sebastian Veron (71)
7 - Oliver Kahn (65)
8 - Michael Owen (61)
9 - Andrei Shevchenko (46)
10 - Francesco Totti (40)

Very similar top 10's but nowhere near the same order. Makes no sense at all. Can you imagine trying to explain to your Gran'kids in 40 years time or so how MO won European player of the year but was 8th in the world?

Kids reaction would be, "were the top 7 players in the world not European then?" You - "No, coz Bex was 2nd in the world." Kid - "So how come he wasn't first in Europe" You - "Coz Owen was" Kid - "So is Europe bigger than the world then?" You - " <img src="graemlins/houllier.gif" border="0" alt="[Houllier]" /> " Kid - "Can I go out and play now?" You - "Hell yeah"

To get an accurate vote would be too much of a pain as too many people would be involved and more often than not, bias would be too strong for media darlings.

Anyway, congrats to Michael Owen, he deserved recognition for his year ('kin scouse cnut ;) )


Rant over ...
 
THese awards piss me off. They are all just pisses of shit. Owen the best player in Europe?? No way in hell. If anything, they need 4 awards based on position. A single award is just pointless.
 
They're essentially both Euro footballer of the year awards since Euro based players usually win the Fifa awards as well.
 
Originally posted by True Treble Reds:
<strong>
Very similar top 10's but nowhere near the same order. Makes no sense at all. Can you imagine trying to explain to your Gran'kids in 40 years time or so how MO won European player of the year but was 8th in the world?
</strong><hr></blockquote>

The reason is that this year there is no big international tourament and the performance of those star players are very close. Last year if you ask 100 people 95 of them will either choose Zidane or Figo. But this year if you ask 100 people I think over 10 different players will be named. But one thing is sure: When your grand kids read that the Euro Player of the Year in 2001 was M.Owen, they won't think about whether he "deserve" it or not. A winner is a winner, and if we try to "degrade" the award as "pointless" or "shit" because it is won by our rival, it shows nothing more than our bitterness and bad manner.
Click to expand...
 
Why did Figo deserve it? I really can't understand. Real didnt do very well last year, and Portugal did ok. What is the basis of this award? I was very suprised to see Zidane in 4th place. The lad almost destroyed Juve last year with his retarded headbuttings, it was an absolutely dissapointing year. I cant understand how players from Bayern were neglected like that, at the end of the day they won the CL, and since last year we had neither Euro nor World cup then CL was the only serious competition. To my understanding, Khan or Mendieta should have been the winners. French people had a different sense of justice.
 
Originally posted by Suedesi:
<strong>Why did Figo deserve it? I really can't understand. Real didnt do very well last year, and Portugal did ok. What is the basis of this award? I was very suprised to see Zidane in 4th place. The lad almost destroyed Juve last year with his retarded headbuttings, it was an absolutely dissapointing year. I cant understand how players from Bayern were neglected like that, at the end of the day they won the CL, and since last year we had neither Euro nor World cup then CL was the only serious competition. To my understanding, Khan or Mendieta should have been the winners. French people had a different sense of justice.</strong><hr></blockquote>

If you don't already know it: The FIFA World Player of the Year award is voted by the manager/coach of all the national teams in the world, not by the "French people".
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by Gazza:
<strong>FIFA Player of the Year 2001

1 - Luis Figo (250 cumulative votes)
2 - David Beckham (238)
3 - Raul (96)
4 - Zinedine Zidane (94)
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Now Figo wants Bex at Real!!! What about Giggsy eh Figo? Changed your feckin' tune haven't ya?

Figo keen to team up with Beckham

World Player of the Year Luis Figo wants runner-up David Beckham to join him at Real Madrid.
Beckham is still embroiled in contract talks with Manchester United.

And Figo has urged his club to step in should the England captain become available.

Figo told the Daily Express: "I told our president Florentino Perez that he should sign David Beckham."
Click to expand...
 
Just for information, some European journalists' votes :

ENGLAND (Ric George)
1. Owen
2. Beckham
3. Raul
4. Figo
5. Zidane

GERMANY (Rainer Kalb)
1. Kahn
2. Raul
3. Figo
4. Lizarazu
5. Owen

FRANCE ( Gerard Ernault)
1. Owen
2. Kahn
3. Raul
4. Lizarazu
5. Totti

BELGIUM (Michel Dubois)
1. Owen
2. Raul
3. Kahn
4. Figo
5. Rui Costa

SCOTLAND (Brian Scott)
1. Effenberg
2. Owen
3. Larsson
4. Beckham
5. Figo

EIRE (Paul Kelly)
1. Owen
2. Totti
3. Chevtchenko
4. Raul
5. Figo

WALES (Alun Evans)
1. Beckham
2. Raul
3. Kahn
4. Tommasi
5. Owen

SPAIN (Paco Aguilar)
1. Owen
2. Raul
3. Rivaldo
4. Kahn
5. Chevtchenko

ITALY (Segio Di Cesare/Roberto Beccantini)
1. Raul
2. Owen
3. Totti
4. Beckham
5. Chevtchenko

NORWAY (Oeyvind Steen Jansen)
1. Owen
2. Zidane
3. Beckham
4. Rivaldo
5. Figo

NETHERLANDS (Tiemen Van Der Laan)
1. Owen
2. Raul
3. Totti
4. Kahn
5. Beckham

ULSTER (Jacky Fullerton)
1. Figo
2. Raul
3. Owen
4. Zidane
5. Becham

ISRAEL (Noah Klieger/Nadav Jacob)
1. Beckham
2. Raul
3. Totti
4. Owen
5. Henry

PORTUGAL (Joaquim Rita)
1. Figo
2. Owen
3. Raul
4. Totti
5. Rivaldo

SWEDEN (Jan Kotschack)
1. Beckham
2. Raul
3. Owen
4. Totti
5. Larsson

(51 countries have taken part to the "European Footballer of the year")
 
You must log in or register to reply here.