History-maker Messi seeks first Club World Cup

Posted on 8:54 AM No Comments Labels: ,


ABU DHABI (AFP) - Barcelona will go into the FIFA Club World Cup as favourites to win the competition for the first time, but winger Lionel Messi says they must learn the lessons from their last involvement.

The Club World Cup is the only international honour missing from Barcelona's well-stocked trophy cabinet after their previous attempt to win it, in 2006, ended in a 1-0 defeat to Brazilian side Internacional.

"I think the most important lesson we've learned is not to be over-confident and to get to know our opponents in depth," said Messi, in an interview with the FIFA website on the eve of the December 9-19 tournament here.

"The last time we maybe thought that the other sides were a bit below us and that's something we can't afford to let happen again if we want to be champions."

Victory in the tournament would crown a remarkable year for current Spanish league leaders Barcelona, who last season won the Champions League, Spanish league and King's Cup to claim an unprecedented treble.

It has also been an unforgettable 12 months for Messi, who last week became the first Argentine player to be named European Footballer of the Year when he was awarded the prestigious Ballon d'Or by France Football magazine.

"It's one title the club has never won and it's one title that?s eluded most of the players at Barca," said Messi.

"It's also the last competition of what's been a historic 2009 and we want to end the year in style. On a personal level, I'm really looking forward to it because it will help me keep on developing."

Barcelona's strongest challenge is likely to come from Messi's homeland, with South American champions Estudiantes set to enter the competition at the semi-final stage alongside the Catalan club.

Estudiantes won the Intercontinental Cup, the precursor to the current competition, by beating Manchester United in 1968 and finished runners-up in the two years afterwards.

Their participation in Abu Dhabi marks a return to the event after a 39-year absence, but a strand of continuity running between the sides can be found in the shape of Estudiantes midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, whose father Juan Ramon starred in the 1968 victory over United.

"It's an enriching experience for all of us, for the older players, who will be leading the way, and the younger ones, who'll be taking up the baton in the future," said Veron.

"You have to make them aware of what it means to be there, how fantastic it is. It's also important that nobody sits back and says 'I've made it now'. With a tournament like this you have to want to come back and experience it again."

The competition's other teams cannot boast players with reputations to match Messi or Veron, but all - with the exception of host club Al-Hahli - are continental champions.

South Korean side Pohang Steelers (Asia), Congolese outfit Tout Puissant Mazembe (Africa) and Mexico's Atlante (CONCACAF) will provide the biggest threat to the two heavyweights.

Auckland, who play Al-Hahli in the tournament's opening game on Wednesday, are the reigning champions from the Oceania region.

"We didn?t score a single goal in 2006 and that was a big disappointment for us," said Auckland captain Ivan Vicelich.

"We've prepared well this year though, and we're going to score a lot of goals. We've been talking about this match for weeks now and we need to go out and execute our gameplan."

The winners of the match between Al-Hahli and Auckland will join TP Mazembe, Atlante and Pohang Steelers in the quarter-finals, where a potential meeting with Pep Guardiola's Catalan conquerors Barcelona will be at stake.
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Panathinaikos fires coach over after league slip

Posted on 8:49 AM No Comments Labels: ,
ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Panathinaikos has fired Dutch coach Henk Ten Cate after the club lost its lead in Greek championship to rival Olympiakos.

In a statement Tuesday, the club named Nikos Nioplias as his replacement. Nioplias is currently the coach of Greece’s under-21 national team.

Olympiakos took the lead in the Greek title race after beating Panathinaikos 2-0 on Nov. 29. It leads the standings with 33 points from 13 games, one point ahead of Panathinaikos.

The 54-year-old Ten Cate, a former Chelsea assistant manager, took over in Athens last season but failed to break the dominance of Olympiakos which has won every league title but one since 1997.
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History of Golf & Golf Equipment

Posted on 8:42 AM No Comments Labels: ,
Golf originated during the 15th century.

Golf originated from a game played on the coast of Scotland during the 15th century. Golfers would hit a pebble instead of a ball around the sand dunes using a stick or club. After 1750, golf evolved into the sport as we recognize it today. In 1774, Edinburgh golfers wrote the first standardized rules for the game of golf.

Golf Balls
Golfers soon tired of hitting pebbles and tried other things. The earliest man-made golf balls included thin leather bags stuffed with feathers (they did not fly very far).

The gutta-percha ball was invented in 1848 by Reverend Adam Paterson. Made from the sap of the Gutta tree, this ball could be hit a maximum distance of 225 yards and was very similar to its modern counterpart.

In 1898, Coburn Haskell introduced the first one-piece rubber cored, when professionally hit these balls reached distances approaching 430 yards.

According to "The Dimpled Golf Ball" by Vincent Mallette during the early days of golf the balls were smooth. Players noticed that as balls became old and scarred, they traveled farther. After a while players would take new balls and intentionally pit them.

In 1905, golf ball manufacturer William Taylor was the first to add the dimple pattern using the Coburn Haskell ball. Golf balls had now taken on their modern form.

Golf Clubs
Golf clubs have evolved from wooden shaft clubs to today's sets of woods and irons with durability, weight distribution and graduation utility. The evolution of clubs went hand in hand with the evolution of golf balls that were able to withstand harder whacks.

Carrying & Caddies
During the 1880s, golf bags first came into use. "The beast of burden" is an old nickname for the caddie who carried golfers' equipment for them. The first powered golf car appeared around 1962 and was invented by Merlin L. Halvorson.

Golf Tees
The word "tee" as it relates to the game of golf originated as the name for the area where a golfer played. In 1889, the first documented portable golf tee was patented by Scottish golfers William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas. This golf tee was made from rubber and had three vertical rubber prongs that held the ball in place. However, it lay on the ground and did not piece (or pegged) the ground like modern golf tees.

In 1892, a British patent was granted to Percy Ellis for his "Perfectum" tee that did piece (pegged) the ground. It was a rubber tee with a metal spike. The 1897 "Victor" tee was similar and included a cup-shaped top to better hold the golf ball. The Vicktor was patented by Scotsmen PM Matthews.

American patents for golf tees include: the first American patent issued to Scotsmen David Dalziel in 1895, the 1895 patent issued to American Prosper Senat, and the 1899 patent for an improved golf tee issued to George Grant.

In 1774, the first standardized rules of golf were written and used for the first golf championship, which was won by Doctor John Rattray on 2nd April 1744 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1. You must tee your ball within one club's length of the hole.

2. Your tee must be on the ground.

3. You are not to change the ball which you strike off the tee.

4. You are not to remove stones, bones or any break club for the sake of playing your ball, except on the fair green, and that only within a club's length of your ball.

5. If your ball comes among water, or any watery filth, you are at liberty to take out your ball and bringing it behind the hazard and teeing it, you may play it with any club and allow your adversary a stroke for so getting out your ball.

6. If your balls be found anywhere touching one another you are to lift the first ball till you play the last.

7. At holeing you are to play your ball honestly for the hole, and not to play upon your adversary's ball, not lying in your way to the hole.

8. If you should lose your ball, by its being taken up, or any other way, you are to go back to the spot where you struck last and drop another ball and allow your adversary a stroke for the misfortune.

9. No man at holeing his ball is to be allowed to mark his way to the hold with his club or anything else.

10. If a ball be stopp'd by any person, horse or dog, or anything else, the ball so stopp'd must be played where it lyes.

11. If you draw your club in order to strike and proceed so far in the stroke as to be bringing down your club; if then your club shall break in any way, it is to be accounted a stroke.

12. He who whose ball lyes farthest from the hole is obliged to play first.

13. Neither trench, ditch or dyke made for the preservation of the links, nor the Scholar's Holes or the soldier's lines shall be accounted a hazard but the ball is to be taken out, teed and play'd with any iron club. Read More......

Woods takes golf into a year of uncertainty

Posted on 2:35 AM No Comments Labels: ,
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP)—Practically every new twist in the shocking tale of Tiger Woods includes an aerial view of his Florida home where his troubles began, when he pulled his SUV out of the driveway and drove it into a tree.

More questions arise when one surveys the expanse of grass across the street — the practice range at Isleworth.

Perhaps the most pressing: When will Woods slip into his spikes, step out of his house and hit golf balls again?

There is no telling when the world’s No. 1 player will choose to return to the PGA Tour and the massive galleries that, most certainly, will not gaze upon him quite the way they did at his previous 253 tour events.

Woods has been out of the public eye since the car crash and subsequent allegations of extramarital affairs took Tigermania into startling new territory during Thanksgiving weekend. He went 13 years without a hint of scandal, the first $1 billion athlete with barely a blemish, guarded with the media even in good times. That’s not likely to change now.

“I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family,” Woods said while confessing to “transgressions” on his Web site last week. “Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”

The greater mystery is his future.

“I think he’s held at a different standard than everybody else out there,” Kenny Perry said Friday at the Chevron World Challenge. “This will be interesting to see how he handles this, though. This is a totally different knock on him when he gets out there and plays next year.”

Until the crash in the wee hours of Nov. 27, anticipation about 2010 in golf was geared toward Woods’ pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record in the majors, especially a year with Pebble Beach (U.S. Open) and St. Andrews (British Open) in the rotation.

That has been replaced by uncertainty and uneasiness.

A sport that promoted its wholesome image as its biggest asset now has a tawdry mess on its hands because of its star player, who happens to be among the most famous athletes in the world.

“What’s interesting to me about this situation is that while its bad in the short term, for golf, on a global basis, it has moved from being a sport to having iconic, celebrity status, and a whole host of other people are now interested,” said John Rowady, president of rEvolution, a Chicago-based sports marketing and media agency.

“And it may be a sport that is not prepared for that kind of publicity.”

The timing was not the greatest. The PGA Tour is struggling to find title sponsors at four tournaments and renew deals with at least a half dozen others. It also will start negotiations on a network TV deal that ends in 2012.

“I think one of our biggest selling points for the corporate world is that we are relatively controversy-free,” Geoff Ogilvy said at the start of the year. “We don’t generally have too many golfers getting into trouble like some other athletes in other sports do. We’re pretty squeaky-clean like that. It’s been like that for a long time. It doesn’t really seem like it’s going to change.”

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has been silent during all this. He hasn’t made himself available for comment except for a statement in support of Woods’ family and the player’s request for privacy.

Asked if Finchem would take questions about concerns for golf’s image or whether it would affect business, spokesman Ty Votaw said the tour does not comment on “hypothetical situations, conjecture and guesswork.”

At the start of the decade, Finchem was at Pebble Beach talking about how golf was in good hands. He cited the new arrivals of Adam Scott, Charles Howell III, David Gossett, young players who represented the values inherent in golf.

No need to mention Woods.

No one ever imagined his name would be splashed across anything but the sports pages, except for being on the cover of Time magazine in 2000 during one of the greatest summers of golf.

Padraig Harrington was quick to distinguish between Woods as a player and a person.

“It’s very much a private matter there,” Harrington said. “He wasn’t … speeding or had a DUI and hurt somebody. It really is a family matter. Hopefully, that’s the worst that golf could ever do. But how it reflects on golf? I suppose things like this have happened before at times, and we move on.

“I would still say golf—I know this may be saying it from inside the sport—is constantly the No. 1 sport with the moral ethics and things like that. So I think we’re in a very strong position going forward.”

Woods’ corporate sponsors said they are standing by him. Most sports marketing consultants believe the scandal involving his personal life will have little bearing on TV ratings or contract negotiations. No one can be sure, however, just as no can predict where or when he will return to golf.

“There’s no impact on the sport itself other than the fact its best asset is a little damaged right now,” said Michael Gordon, CEO of Group Gordon Strategic Communications, a crisis PR firm in New York.

“But it starts with Tiger. He’s at the top of the pyramid,” Gordon said. “When Tiger is hurt, other assets could get hurt, too—potentially the PGA Tour, sponsors, his family. It’s a little bit of a domino affect, and he’s the first domino.”

His peers at the Chevron World Challenge—the tournament Woods hosts but did not attend—have largely been supportive without passing judgment, perhaps because they realize that Woods is their meal ticket. They are playing for $5.75 million this week, a snapshot of life on the PGA Tour made possible by Woods and his enormous appeal.

Total prize money was $65 million the year Woods turned pro in 1996. They played for $275 million this year.

Stewart Cink is among those who have jokingly suggested Woods is not human, having won 82 times around the world and 14 majors. After losing to him by a record margin at the Match Play Championship last year, Cink said, “I think maybe we ought to slice him open to see what’s inside. Maybe nuts and bolts.”

Woods twice mentioned in statements during the last week that he was, indeed, “human.” Will that make him seem more vulnerable as a player?

“I don’t think that whatever comes out of this will affect his golf because he’s a professional, and part of being a professional is to separate your personal life from what you do on the course,” Cink said. “I’ve had plenty of times when I came to the golf course in a tournament, and I was just a wreck off the course. … And you have no choice but to just leave that. It’s not always real easy, but he’ll find a way, and he’ll be fine.”

Greg Norman, who preceded Woods as golf’s biggest draw, understands scrutiny into one’s personal life, having disclosed in October that his 15-month marriage to tennis star Chris Evert was ending.

He believes golf is bigger than any one player and will be fine. And while he can empathize with Woods’ public life on display, Norman doesn’t feel sorry for him.

“Hey, he’s the No. 1 player in the world,” Norman said Saturday at the Australian Open. “Publicity is going to follow you no matter what you do, whether you win tournaments, lose tournaments and whatever happens.”

Woods has started at Torrey Pines every year since 2006 when healthy. Tournament director Tom Wilson said he recently met with PGA Tour security consultants about what needs to be done, if Woods chooses this event to mark his return.

“We might need to add a few chairs in the media center,” Wilson said.

If keeping together his family—wife Elin and two children—is a priority, Woods might wait longer.

“Is this going to make him stronger? We’ll find out,” Perry said. “Is this really going to get inside his head a little bit and really going to mess with him? I don’t know how the crowd is … going to attack him. Are they going to verbally abuse him out there? We don’t know.

“I don’t think it’s going to change our tour next year at all,” he said. “Only time will tell.”

Woods has tried to quell minor issues in the past with one sentence in a news conference or one posting on his Web site. Though three statements have been posted on his Web site since the accident, they’ve done little to answer lingering questions. As a result, media outlets have shown no signs of scaling back in their hot pursuit of information.

“When you get nonsporting media spending money on stories, whether they’re true or false, it’s just fanning the flames,” Rowady said.

Either way, he said the next few months will go a long way, starting with Woods returning to golf. He said Woods will need to raise his game not only on the course, but for the tour and its sponsors, his own sponsors and TV partners.

“If it’s true that golf is a gentleman’s game, it benefits by the way he finishes this process,” Rowady said. “How he comes out and eventually speaks and plays could be an asset, and then it heightens the awareness. What’s surprising to me is how quickly people are willing to tear him down. I don’t know that anyone benefits by making Tiger Woods into a villain.”

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Given save can transform City fortunes - Hughes

Posted on 2:31 AM No Comments Labels: ,

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Mark Hughes says Shay Given's penalty save that secured Manchester City an unlikely 2-1 victory over Chelsea here on Saturday could be the turning point in the club's entire season.

The Republic of Ireland international kept out Frank Lampard's late effort to ensure goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez cancelled out a Chelsea opener, courtesy of an Adebayor own goal, and ended City's run of seven consecutive Premier League draws.

This win at a rain-sodden Eastlands also cut Chelsea's lead at the top of the table to two points over champions Manchester United and opened up the possibility, however distant, of City competing for the title in the second half of the campaign.

At the end of a week in which Hughes also led his team to the League Cup semi-finals with victory over Arsenal, the manager agreed the penalty save could have huge long-term significance.

"Quite possibly," said Hughes when asked if it could be a turning point.

"It was a fantastic save. There are a lot of things you don't expect to happen and you don't expect Frank Lampard to miss a penalty."

Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Wales striker Hughes added: "We made a real effort this week to work exceptionally hard because, as I keep saying, you can't take short cuts, you can't not put the work and effort in or you get beaten by the top teams in the Premier League.

"We now know what it takes to win against the bigger teams. Once we get the knowledge of how to beat the lesser sides, we will be okay."

Victory left big-spenders City sixth in the table, 11 points adrift of Chelsea, and Hughes said: "Arsenal and Chelsea are there to be beaten, they are the challenge for us.

"We want to supersede them at some stage and at the moment we are just challenging, trying to make it difficult for them."

Hughes, however, refused to include City in the title race just yet, saying: "We're not talking in terms of winning titles. We are trying to progress.

"We are talking about a team that 12 months ago was looking at relegation. We spent money, yes, and that will always be quoted when Manchester City are mentioned but we are just trying to be better than we were."

Hughes also praised match-winner Tevez, himself an ex-Manchester United forward, who has put in some strong recent performances after overcoming early-season fitness and injury problems.

"He has been fantastic," said Hughes after seeing Tevez beat Petr Cech with a 56th-minute free-kick awarded for a foul by Ricardo Carvalho.

"And he is now getting back to the levels of fitness he needs to have."

Carlo Ancelotti laid the blame for Chelsea's defeat firmly at the door of referee Howard Webb, who he accused of making mistakes in the build-up to both of City's goals, although he stressed the loss was no cause for concern.

"We're disappointed," said Ancelotti. "The referee made two important mistakes. I think Micah Richards did handle the ball and the second situation, I think Carvalho kicked the ball clear, it was a clear situation.

"I'm surprised. I consider Webb a fantastic referee with experience yet he made those two mistakes, but I don't want to speak about this. It happened and we move forward."

He added: "We don't need a reaction. We are top of the league by two points, we don't have reason to be worried."
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2010 World Cup Exclusive: North Korea's An Yong Hak - We Will Fight For Second Place In Group Of Death

Posted on 2:28 AM No Comments Labels: ,
North Korea

Midfielder An Yong Hak is looking forward to facing Portugal, Brazil and the Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup and has targeted second place.

Group G was immediately named The Group of Death on Friday after the draw in Cape Town and few are giving North Korea, playing in only their second World Cup and their first since 1966, a chance.

An, who was an ever-present in the team’s qualification campaign, knows that it will be tough but is excited about the challenge.

“When I saw Group G, I smiled a bitter smile,” An told Goal.com.

“As I said before, I want to play against the big teams because there are no weak teams in the World Cup. But I'm excited that we will play against Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast. If we don’t play these teams at the World Cup, when can we?”

The 31 year-old agrees that Brazil should top the group but is ready to fight to make it to the second round.

“I think, even Brazil will not have an easy time but they will finish first. Then North Korea will compete with Portugal and Cote d'Ivoire for second place in the group, hopefully.”

“There are so many star players so I can't say just one. Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Robinho, Deco and the Toure brothers.

"I know that playing against such players is not easy task but I will never give up and I will do my best to keep the ball off them.

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Virgin to take Manor name

Posted on 6:52 AM No Comments Labels: ,


"FIA entry list shows Manor GP rebranded as Virgin Racing"

The Manor GP team are to be rebranded Virgin Racing ahead of their Formula One debut next season.

The effective confirmation, which has long been an open secret in F1 circles, came on Monday as the FIA announced its entry list for the 2010 World Championship.

An announcement from the team will come on Tuesday when team boss John Booth and Virgin supremo Sir Richard Branson officially reveal their plans.

The FIA's entry list reveals the names of 12 teams, with the name Virgin Racing amongst the newcomers, joining Lotus F1 Racing, Campos Meta 1 and US F1 Team.

The 13th entry remains unresolved, although Sauber are widely expected to be granted a place on the grid following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on December 11.

Last week, Peter Sauber regained control of the team he founded, four years after selling out to BMW.

The German manufacturer, which announced its withdrawal from the sport in July, reached a deal with Sauber having pulled out of an earlier agreement with Qadbak Investments.

However, the deal will only go through if Sauber is awarded the 13th and last place.

"I am very relieved about that development," said the 66-year-old Swiss. "It would have been a crying shame had one of the best Formula One factories closed down.

"Regarding the slot on the grid, I am very confident we will be given a final confirmation very shortly."

If they are granted the place, Sauber will rejoin at the expense of Toyota, which in turn announced the withdrawal of its team at the end of last season.

Complicated

The situation is complicated by the fact that Toyota withdrew despite having earlier signed up to the sport's latest Concorde Agreement, which in effect committed it to F1 until 2012.

There remains speculation of a potential takeover, yet it is unclear whether a buyer would automatically be granted an entry on the basis of Toyota's prior commitment.

The Formula One Commission are due to discuss the matter in Monaco on Wednesday.

An FIA statement said: "Toyota Motorsport GmbH remains formally bound by the Concorde Agreement to put forward a team for participation, though it has indicated that it will not be in a position to do so.

"An announcement will be made regarding this entry in due course."

(source) Read More......

Messi wins Ballon d'Or

Posted on 6:33 AM No Comments Labels: ,


Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been named the European Footballer of the Year.

The Argentinean won the Ballon d'Or by a record margin from last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentinian won an unprecedented treble last season as the Catalan side won the Champions League, the Liga title and the Copa del Rey.

Messi was the top scorer in last year's Champions League with nine goals, including a goal in the 2-0 final defeat of Manchester United in Rome.

Messi, who tallied 473 of a possible 480 points, largely dominated the voting and won with a record-margin of 240 points. Real Madrid winger Ronaldo had 233 and Xavi had 170.

"Honestly, I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009," he told France Football magazine.

"But I didn't expect to win with such a margin. The Golden Ball is very important to me.

"All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it."

Barca teammates were also recognised with midfielder Xavi taking third place with 170 points while Iniesta was fourth on 149.

In fifth place was Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, who left Barca to join Inter. He was Barca's other scorer in the 2-0 final win over United.

Votes cast
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona) : 473 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United then Real Madrid) : 233 pts
3. Xavi (Spain, Barcelona) : 170 pts
4. Andres Iniesta (Espagnol, Barcelona): 149 pts
5. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Barcelona then Inter): 75 pts
6. Kaka (Brazil, Milan then Real Madrid): 58 pts
7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter then Barcelona): 50 pts
8. Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United): 35 pts
9. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea): 33 pts
10. Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool): 32 pts
11. Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool): 22 pts
12. Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal): 13 pts
13. Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg): 12 pts
14. Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United): 11 pts
15. Thierry Henry (France, Barcelona): 9 pts
16. Luis Fabiano (Brazil, Sevilla), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid): 8 pts
19. Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid): 7 pts
20. Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux): 6 pts
21. Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal), Julio Cesar (Brazil, Inter), Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea): 5 pts
24. Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan): 4 pts
25. Diego (Brazil, Werder Bremen then Juventus): 3 pts
26. David Villa (Spain, Valence), John Terry (England, Chelsea): 2 pts
28. Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Barcelona): 1 pt
30. Karim Benzema (France, Lyon then Real Madrid): 0 pt

Previous winners:
1956 - Stanley Matthews, Blackpool
1957 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Real Madrid
1958 - Raymond Kopa, Real Madrid
1959 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Real Madrid
1960 - Luis Suarez, Barcelona
1961 - Omar Sivori, Juventus
1962 - Josef Masopust, Dukla Prague
1963 - Lev Yashin, Dynamo Moscow
1964 - Denis Law, Manchester United
1965 - Eusebio, Benfica
1966 - Bobby Charlton, Manchester United
1967 - Florian Albert, Ferencvaros
1968 - George Best, Manchester United
1969 - Gianni Rivera, Milan
1970 - Gerd Mueller, Bayern Munich
1971 - Johan Cruyff, Ajax
1972 - Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich
1973 - Johan Cruyff, Barcelona
1974 - Johan Cruyff, Barcelona
1975 - Oleg Blokhin, Dynamo Kyiv
1976 - Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich
1977 - Allan Simonsen, Borussia Moenchengladbach
1978 - Kevin Keegan, Hamburg
1979 - Kevin Keegan, Hamburg
1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich
1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich
1982 - Paolo Rossi, Juventus
1983 - Michel Platini, Juventus
1984 - Michel Platini, Juventus
1985 - Michel Platini, Juventus
1986 - Igor Belanov, Dynamo Kyiv
1987 - Ruud Gullit, Milan
1988 - Marco Van Basten, Milan
1989 - Marco Van Basten, Milan
1990 - Lothar Matthaeus, Inter
1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin, Marseille
1992 - Marco Van Basten, Milan
1993 - Roberto Baggio, Juventus
1994 - Hristo Stoitchkov, Barcelona
1995 - George Weah, Milan
1996 - Matthias Sammer, Borussia Dortmund
1997 - Ronaldo, Inter
1998 - Zinedine Zidane, Juventus
1999 - Rivaldo, Barcelona
2000 - Luis Figo, Real Madrid
2001 - Michael Owen, Liverpool
2002 - Ronaldo, Real Madrid
2003 - Pavel Nedved, Juventus
2004 - Andriy Shevchenko, Milan
2005 - Ronaldinho, Barcelona
2006 - Fabio Cannavaro, Real Madrid
2007 - Kaka, Milan
2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United
2009 - Lionel Messi, Barcelona
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