2000 Ballon d’Or Winner: Luis Figo. The Victorious Traitor

When Luis Figo won the 2000 Ballon d’Or, he became only the second Portuguese player to claim the award since Benfica legend Eusébio in 1965.

Throughout the calendar year, Figo played some truly incredible football, scoring goals and providing wonderful assists for not one giant European club – but two.

Famously, the sides in question just happened to be two of the biggest rivals in the sport’s history- Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Figo moved from Camp Nou to the Bernabeu in the summer of 2000. And whilst the player himself was seemingly unaffected by the move, it was a sensational transfer that caused shockwaves within the game, all on his rise to being named the finest footballer on the planet.

Luis Figo’s role as the victorious traitor was cast.

Barcelona

In 1995, Luis Figo joined Spanish giants Barcelona from Sporting FC for a fee of £2.25 million. He was clearly a generational talent, a powerful young and stocky athlete with an ability to drive at the opposition and cause constant threat.

Figo found great success at Camp Nou during his five-year stay, winning two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España along with the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

He played some of his best football with the Catalan side and scored 30 goals in 172 games from 1995 to 2000. The Portuguese international soon matured from a promising young midfielder and into a dominating powerhouse of a player.

Ironically, during his Ballon d’Or winning year with Barca, the club failed to win any notable silverware and yet Figo had a fantastic season on an individual level – scoring 14 times in 51 appearances and providing a remarkable 15 assists!

Euro 2000

Whilst Ballon d’Or runner up Zinedine Zidane had performed incredibly during the tournament, guiding France to the Euro 2000 title in typically enigmatic style, Luis Figo was ultimately recognised for his eye-catching contribution to the competition as a whole.

Figo was instrumental in Portugal’s amazing run to the semi-finals. He memorably scored a wonderful long range effort in his side’s 3-2 comeback vs England during their opening group game.

The midfielder also won other accolades as a result his display for club and country – including Portuguese Footballer of the Year and

La Liga Foreign Player of the Year.

Real Madrid

Immediately after Euro 2000, Luis Figo moved from Barcelona to Real Madrid for £44 million which caused fury among fans, Barcelona supporters labelling him as a traitor. To this day he is booed at the Camp Nou.

Madrid President Florentino Perez was known as a disruptor and promised to bring the biggest stars to the club. Figo signaled the start of the ‘Galacticos’ era at Real Madrid.

He continued his fine form with Los Blancos, making 50 appearances across the 2000/01 season, scoring 14 goals and producing a ridiculous 27 assists in all competitions.

The new millennium had arrived and the year 2000 was simply Luis Figo’s greatest year.

2000 Ballon d’Or Top 20

Trivia

• 2000 was Luís Figo’s best year for Portugal – in terms of goals he scored six times and won 13 caps.
• Zinedine Zidane was chosen as UEFA’s player of the tournament for Euro 2000.
• Third-place Andriy Shevchenko enjoyed the best club season of his career in 2000/01 – making 51 appearances for AC Milan and scoring 34 goals in all competitions.