World's most popular footballer in 2007
Table of Contents
Since 2006 IFFHS give an award for the world's most popular football player based on their user votes.
In 2007 IFFHS had provided a list of 55 candidates from all six continents, totalling of 2,727,458 casting their votes.
And maybe most of you will wonder "how such a results is possible?!"
Here are some answers according to IFFHS.
Aboutreika is the great idol of Egyptian football also one of the best players in Africa.
He has been dubbed as the Egyptian Zinedine Zidane for his technical skill and excellent vision of the field.
He won the title Best Player in Egypt four successive times 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, which is a personal Egyptian record.
He was also nominated for the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year along with Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, Michael Essien and Nwankwo Kanu.
Yasser al-Qahtani was voted Asian Footballer of The Year in 2007 and was the youngest Saudi Captain ever in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, leading the national team to the final and becoming the top goalscorer in the competition, along with Iraqi Younis Mahmoud and Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara.
Al-Qahtani, nicknamed "The Sniper," is ranked 6th in The World's Top Goal Scorers 2007 by IFFHS.
Younis Mahmoud was part of the team which caused sensation in the 2004 Summer Olympics who become 4th.
He scored a goal against Portugal in the tournament and forced the Selecçao out from the tournament.
In 2007 Younis secured Iraq first AFC Asian Cup title and won the MVP award and joined the top goalscorer with 4 goals.
In this year he was voted Asian Footballer of the Year runner-up.
Also see:
In 2007 IFFHS had provided a list of 55 candidates from all six continents, totalling of 2,727,458 casting their votes.
The winner was 29 year-old Mohamed Aboutreika of Egypt, playmaker and goal getter of Al-Ahly (Cairo). Followed by Yasser al-Qahtani of Al-Hilal (Riyadh) and Younis Mahmoud from Al-Gharrafa Club (Doha).
And maybe most of you will wonder "how such a results is possible?!"
Here are some answers according to IFFHS.
- This vote was cast not for the best, but for the most popular player.
- Asia has about five times as many inhabitants as Europe.
- Football fever in Egypt and Brazil by far exceeds anything in Europe.
- Countries in North Africa, the Middle East and western Asia have much in common and usually vote as one.
- The media also influence voting in their country by mentioning the IFFHS user vote or not.
- The percentage of diehard football fans who go on the internet every day is much greater in West Asia than in the great football nations of Europe.
- For close to a century, each football continent has had its own philosophy of the game, and these are quite distinct.
- Players who are constantly switching clubs for money do not enjoy great sympathy and hence do not command a great following worldwide.
Aboutreika is the great idol of Egyptian football also one of the best players in Africa.
He has been dubbed as the Egyptian Zinedine Zidane for his technical skill and excellent vision of the field.
He won the title Best Player in Egypt four successive times 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, which is a personal Egyptian record.
He was also nominated for the 2006 CAF African Footballer of the Year along with Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, Michael Essien and Nwankwo Kanu.
Yasser al-Qahtani was voted Asian Footballer of The Year in 2007 and was the youngest Saudi Captain ever in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, leading the national team to the final and becoming the top goalscorer in the competition, along with Iraqi Younis Mahmoud and Japanese striker Naohiro Takahara.
Al-Qahtani, nicknamed "The Sniper," is ranked 6th in The World's Top Goal Scorers 2007 by IFFHS.
Younis Mahmoud was part of the team which caused sensation in the 2004 Summer Olympics who become 4th.
He scored a goal against Portugal in the tournament and forced the Selecçao out from the tournament.
In 2007 Younis secured Iraq first AFC Asian Cup title and won the MVP award and joined the top goalscorer with 4 goals.
In this year he was voted Asian Footballer of the Year runner-up.
| 1. | Mohamed Aboutreika | Egypt | 1,017,786 |
| 2. | Yasser Al-Qahtani | Saudi Arabia | 613,116 |
| 3. | Younis Mahmoud | Iraq | 583,769 |
| 4. | Rogério Ceni | Brazil | 250,323 |
| 5. | Yegor Titov | Russia | 34,816 |
| 6. | Adrian Mutu | Romania | 21,481 |
| 7. | Kaká | Brazil | 20,313 |
| 8. | Mohamed Chermiti | Tunisia | 16,278 |
| 9. | Ismail Matar | UAE | 15,780 |
| 10. | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 14,934 |
| 11. | Dimitar Berbatov> | Bulgaria | 13,466 |
| 12. | Ronaldo | Brazil | 13,016 |
| 13. | Rafael Márquez | Mexico | 11,582 |
| 14. | David Beckham | England | 10,518 |
| 15. | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 10,438 |
| 16. | Francesco Totti | Italy | 9,891 |
| 17. | Alessandro Del Piero | Italy | 7,779 |
| 18. | Ronaldinho | Brazil | 6,881 |
| 19. | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | 4,683 |
| 20. | Maksim Shatskikh | Uzbekistan | 3,996 |
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