© EuroFootball.com
Since 1991, when it was decided to select and award the best World Player of the Year, nine World's Best Players have received this title. The player who has won this title the most times, three times, is the current forward of Real Madrid, Brazilian Ronaldo. Another Real player, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, has received this award twice. This list of undoubtedly the most prominent footballers of the late 20th century also includes players who have ended their careers. Eurofootball.com looks back at careers of players who shook the football World over the past thirteen years.
1991. Lothar Matthaeus
The very first award went to the living German and European football legend Lothar Matthaeus. The captain of the 1990 World Cup-winning German national team and player of Milan's Internazionale truly deserved this award for the highest level of play demonstrated.
Throughout his impressive career, Matthaeus represented only three clubs: Monchengladbach's Borussia (1979-1984), Munich's Bayern (1984-1988 and 1992-2000), and Milan's Internazionale (1988-1992). This German also holds the record for World Cup matches: he played in five tournaments and appeared on the field 25 times, with his last World Cup participation in 1998 at the age of 37. During his career, he represented the German national team 150 times, won six Bundesliga titles, five German Cup titles, two UEFA Cup titles, and once each became a World and European (1986) champion.
Lothar Matthaeus deservedly received the title of Best World Player in 1991: in 1990, he was named the best player of the World Cup after scoring four goals in seven matches, and in club football in the 1990-1991 season, he was an Italian vice-champion with Inter, scoring 19 goals in 31 matches. Interestingly, shortly after receiving this award, Matthaeus changed his position on the field. Previously playing in the midfield, he began playing in the sweeper position, between the center-backs and the goalkeeper. Most football experts agree that Matthaeus was fantastic in both positions.
"I never considered myself a very talented player," Matthaeus once said about himself. "I am just a person who knows how to do his job well and completely." And he did his job perfectly! The proof is this title of "Best World Player of the Year."
1992. Marco van Basten
This title was perhaps the last trophy in the career of Dutch football legend Marco van Basten. Always excelling in his position, van Basten was one of the pillars for the later generations of forwards. Despite being just a bench player in the 1988 European Championship, he became a star of the Dutch national team in the second match by scoring a hat-trick against England. This secured his spot in the starting lineup of the Dutch national team, and in the final, he lifted all the spectators in the stadium astonishingly, defying the laws of gravity by perfectly lobbing the ball over Russian goalkeeper Rinat Dassaev.
Van Basten's club career was very impressive: with AC Milan, he won four Serie A titles, three European Cups, and was named European Player of the Year three times.
Van Basten earned the title of Best World Player of the Year in 1992 for his 25 goals in the Italian league in the 1991-1992 season. Unfortunately, the player suffered an injury soon after and, following three years of unsuccessful treatment, ended his professional football career having scored a total of 218 goals.
1993.
An expert in precise passes, a master of penalty kicks, and a virtuoso in ball control - one man, whose name is Roberto Baggio. In his day, Baggio was truly an unstoppable player who seemed capable of overcoming any number of opponents and scoring in a style unique to him. Older football fans could never forget Baggio's goal against Czechoslovakia in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, when he single-handedly beat the entire Czechoslovakian defense and sent the ball into the net. The "God" of Fiorentina fans even sparked a strike in the streets of Florence when he moved to Juventus.
In 1993, he was named the best player in Europe, and a year later, he performed very impressively in the World Cup held in the USA, scoring five of six goals for Italy in seven matches and leading his country to the tournament final. Unfortunately, in the final match, he failed to convert a penalty kick from eleven meters. Strangely, despite his talent, he never had the full confidence of the national team coaches.
Throughout his injury-plagued career, the player nicknamed "Divine Ponytail" for his hairstyle represented Vicenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, AC Milan, Bologna, and Internazionale. He also participated in three World Cups (1990, 1994, and 1998), scoring nine goals in sixteen matches.
