Great footballers who have never been FIFA Player of the Year

Amoy Ghoshal With 23 footballers being shortlisted for the 2009 FIFA Player of the Year award, here is a list of 20 great footballers who have never won the award. The FIFA World Player of the Year Award was started in 1991, which is given to the best player on the planet based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams. Peter Schmeichel The legendary goalkeeper played a key role in Denmark’s Euro 92 triumph and won ten major trophies with Man United including the 1999 Champions League. He was voted UEFA goalkeeper of the year three times and IFFHS World’s Best goalkeeper twice. But the Dane never came close to win the FIFA player of the year, in fact for some mysterious reason he never even made it to the top three any year. Franco Baresi The FIFA Player of the year award started at a time when Baresi was on the wrong side of thirty. But the Italian was considered to be one of the best defenders even during the 90’s when he picked up one Champions League winners medal and finished runner up in the 1994 World Cup final. His best year was 92 but he couldn’t even make the top three. Roberto Carlos The Brazilian defender was widely recognised as the best left-back in the world during his prime from the late 90’s up until the early parts of 2000.The world cup winner won three Champions League trophies with Real Madrid but like many great defenders he didn’t come close to win the award which is dominated by attacking players. Jurgen Klinsmann Germany’s 1990 World cup winning captain was one of the best forwards of his time. He didn’t win too many trophies at club level but had a legendary spell at Tottenham Hotspur in the mid nineties which helped him finish third in 95. He was instrumental in Germany’s Euro 96 triumph but Klinsmann never won the prestigious award. Dennis Bergkamp The Dutch master has finished third twice and that too in a gap of four years which clearly shows his consistency. The fact that Netherlands never won any major trophy and that Arsenal never won the Champions League probably stopped Bergkamp from winning the award. Ryan Giggs The Manchester United legend would have probably won the award had he been from a major footballing nation. He won several honours at club level including two Champions Leagues but never played in any major international tournament with Wales, so despite being consistent for more than a decade, individual honours always eluded Giggs. Andriy Shevchenko Shevchenko was a frontrunner to win it in 2004 as he bagged the Ballon d’Or but finished third behind Ronaldinho and Henry. The fourth highest scorer in the history of European club competitions never came close again. Frank Lampard In 2005 Lampard became the third English player to make it to the top three after Shearer and Beckham but it wasn’t enough as he finished second behind Ronaldinho. The 30 year old has been nominated this year also among the probables but would probably have to win either the Champions League or World Cup, to win the award. Samuel Eto’o The three time African player of the year has one of the best goalscoring records at the very highest level. He has had immense success at club level, winning the Champions League twice with Barcelona and is also one of two players who has scored in two separate finals. The man from Cameroon became the first African since George Weah to be in the top three for this award, when he finished third in 2005. Raul Gonzalez The all time highest scorer for Spain and in Champions League history has also incredibly never won this individual honour. The closest Raul came to win it was in 2001 but teammate Luis Figo won it eventually while he finished third. Perhaps one big reason why the three time Champions League winner has never won this award is because of his failure to replicate his club success at international level. Oliver Kahn The former German captain is the only goalkeeper to have won the Golden Ball in a FIFA World Cup, a feat he achieved in the 2002 edition after almost single handedly taking his country to the final. The same year he became the first goalkeeper to make it to the top three but could only finish runner up behind Ronaldo. Paolo Maldini The AC Milan great won almost every trophy at club level in a career that spanned for 25 years. But individual honours always eluded him probably because he was a defender and also as he failed to win any international tournament with Italy. The closest he came to this award was in 1995 when he finished second behind club teammate George Weah. Thierry Henry Henry won virtually everything in English football including several individual honours during his peak between 2001 and 2006. But in the same period he couldn’t win either the Champions League with Arsenal or any major international tournament with France. That was probably the reason why he finished runner up for this award both in 2003 and 2004. After winning the Champions League with Barcelona last season, he has been included in the list of 23 this year also but is unlikely to win the award. David Beckham England’s most capped outfield player came close to win the award twice and both times he finished second. In 1999, the year Man United won the Champions League, Rivaldo finished first while in 2001 Luis Figo edged out the former England captain. Cafu Three world cup final appearances wasn’t enough for the former Brazilian skipper as he never even made it to the top three. At club level also Cafu was highly successful both in South America and Europe. But the fact that he was a defender must have stopped him from even coming close to this award. Steven Gerrard Gerrard holds the distinction of scoring in the finals of three major competitions (UEFA Cup, Champions League, FA Cup) all of which Liverpool won. He is always the man for the big occasion but has never come close to win this award. UEFA voted him the best player in the 04/05 Champions League season and he also won the Football Writers’ Association Award last season. But to become FIFA Player of the Year he needs success at international level also. Pavel Nedved Nedved was one of the best midfielders of his generation and was the player who Juventus signed from Lazio to replace the great Zinedine Zidane. The former Czech international guided the Old Lady to the Champions League final in 2003. His performances won him the Ballon d’Or that year but he wasn`t even in the top three for this award. Michael Ballack Ballack was up there with the likes of Zidane, Ronaldo in terms of consistency back in 2001 and 2002 when he helped Bayer Leverkusen and Germany finish runner up in Champions League and World Cup respectively. He didn’t make the top three back then and is unlikely to do the same this year also. Hristo Stoichkov Bulgaria’s greatest player ever, finished second in 1992 when he helped his club Barcelona win their first European Cup. Two years later Stoichkov had another fine season for Barca and more notably finished the joint topscorer along with Oleg Salenko in the 1994 World Cup, where Bulgaria finished fourth. But that year also Stoichkov finished second behind World cup winner Romario, however he did win the Ballon d’Or. Gianluigi Buffon Like many other goalkeepers, Buffon has always been overlooked for this award and unlike Kahn he has never made the top three also. The Italian World Cup winner was a good bet in 2003 and 2006 but other outfield players were preferred. He is the only player from his country to be nominated this year but the award is likely to elude him yet again. (Courtesy: Goal.com)