The "Ballon d'Or", literally translated as "the golden ball" and often referred to as the European Footballer of the Year award, was an annual association football
award. It was presented to the player who has been voted to have
performed the best over the previous calendar year. The award was
conceived by France Football's chief magazine writer Gabriel Hanot, who asked his colleagues to vote for the player of the year in Europe in 1956.
Luís Figo 2000
Michael Owen 2001
Ronaldo 2002
Pavel Nedvěd 2003
Andriy Shevchenko 2004
Ronaldinho 2005
Fabio Cannavaro 2006
Kaká 2007
Cristiano Ronaldo 2008
Lionel Messi 2009
Lionel Messi 2010
Lionel Messi 2011
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