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In the voting by football journalists, Lampard surpassed his teammate J. Terry, who was named the best player of the year in England last month. In total, both Chelsea players together received about 90% of the votes, with third place going to Liverpool defender J. Carragher. Last year's best player award, according to both journalists and players, was won by Arsenal striker T. Henry.
Playing in the midfield position, Lampard became the second Chelsea player to win this prestigious award - in 1997, journalists chose G. Zola as the best. He is also the third Englishman to win this vote, as it has only been achieved before by A. Shearer (1994) and T. Sheringham (2001).
"The voting was close and the top two spots were occupied by Chelsea teammates, but Lampard managed to create a convincing lead a couple of weeks ago," said Gerry Cox, president of the Football Journalists Association. "Terry was an important player for Chelsea in the fantastic season of the 'Blues', but Lampard convinced our members that he is the best in the country and among the best in Europe. His versatile play is amazing, his physical form is phenomenal, and the fact that he scored 18 goals makes him special for any team.
