World Soccer Presents Issue 8

To mark the 40th anniversary of the World Soccer awards, this special edition bookazine takes you on a journey through the magazine’s World Player of the Year prize; an accolade passed on each year by indisputable football legends such as Platini, Maradona, Ronaldo, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. Forty years ago, Italy’s Paolo Rossi set the wheels in motion. His World Cup-winning exploits, with six goals at Spain ’82, saw him crowned the inaugural World Soccer World Player of the Year. The modus operandi in how the winner was picked each year since evolved: some years readers selected the best player, in others a panel of journalists and experts bestowed the prestigious prize upon the winner. A combination of both has even been used. But whichever method has been…

A fairy tale come to life Paolo Rossi is World Soccer’s first-ever World Footballer of the Year – that is the verdict of a poll conducted among contributors and readers, the results of which were, predictably, heavily influenced by events at the World Cup finals in Spain. But while world champions Italy provided a top-scoring four players in the top ten, note also the strong representation of Brazil – with Falcao, Zico and Socrates finishing third, fourth and fifth respectively. There is no doubt that football lovers the world over were captivated by the brilliant Brazilians at the World Cup, and that is duly reflected by the appearance of Brazil at the head of the World Team of the Year poll. Italy had to be satisfied with second place here,…

Rags to riches: a superstar of two continents Zico, the Brazilian superstar who has set Italian football alight, is the1983 World Footballer of the Year. Readers and contributors to World Soccer, the game’s only publication specialising in the international field, have voted the Udinese superstar into top spot. He was run closely in the voting by Frenchman Michel Platini. And, for a second successive year, Roma’s Falcao finished third. Fascinating… that a country such as Italy whose football has such an infamous reputation for sterile, defensive play, should be home for all the top three. But it can also be regarded as significant that all three players are imports – not homegrown stars. The World Player of the Year award thus stays in Italy. Last year the winner was Juventus’…

Platini is the tops It has been an absolutely fantastic year for France – that is the overwhelming message of readers and contributors from all around the world who voted in World Soccer’s annual awards poll. Michel Platini won the World Footballer of the Year accolade with a record advantage over runner-up Ian Rush; France was unrivalled in the voting as World Team of the Year for their brilliant victory in the European Championship (reinforced by their Olympic success); and Michel Hidalgo, the French boss, was voted Manager of the Year. Platini, the modest millionaire of Juventus and France, can hardly pretend surprise any more at the way he has swept every award this past year. World Soccer’s World Player of the Year crown is the latest in an ever-lengthening…

The man for the big occasion Juventus star Michel Platini, Barcelona boss Terry Venables and Everton’s league and European Cup Winners’ Cup champions take the honours in World Soccer’s1985 world awards poll. Platini, captain of France, is the first player to win the World Footballer of the Year title twice – having won in1984 – thanks to the votes of readers of World Soccer and of the Dutch magazine International Voetball Nieuws. Venables earned his honour – the first British individual to finish on top of one of the award categories – thanks to his brilliant takeover at Barcelona which resulted in the club’s first Spanish league title for11 years, while Everton were runaway winners in the Team category. But it is the Player vote that steals the headlines. When…

No achievement appears beyond Michel Platini at the moment – not even Johan Cruyff’s triple crown as European Footballer of the Year. As the awards continue to pile upon the Frenchman, so this next award can be his too; he has topped the poll in the last two years organised by the Paris magazine France Football. But there is much more to Platini than a pot-hunter. Many experts rank him above the 1950s star Raymond Kopa as the best player ever produced by France. His achievements on the pitch speak for themselves, while his vision as a midfield general, dribbling and finishing have made him an outstanding figure in world football. Diego Maradona’s technique may be even more magical. But in terms of imaginative achievement the Argentine cannot compare. Joeuf,…