WORLD SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
ZICO
1983
Cover sttar…Zico a appeared on a unique World Soccer cover
Rags to riches: a superstar of two continents
Z
ico, the Brazilian superstar who has set Italian football alight, is the 1983 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’ World Cup-winning striker, Paolo Rossi. Zico’s success over Platini is as much recognition for his example over the years as for his achievements this
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PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Graceful…Zico skipping past a Spanish tackle