The 2003 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to the Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd on 22 December 2003.[1] On 11 November 2003, the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from France Football was announced.[2] There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales and Yugoslavia. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and fifth choice (1pt).[3]

2003 Ballon d'Or
2003 Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedvěd
Date22 December 2003
Presented byFrance Football
Websitefrancefootball.fr/ballon-d-or
← 2002 · Ballon d'Or · 2004 →

Nedvěd was the second Czech player to win the award after Josef Masopust (1962).[1] Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) was the top ranked goalkeeper in the list, in ninth place. Paolo Maldini (Italy) was the best ranked defender in third place, while Thierry Henry (France) was the top forward, in second place.[3]

Rankings

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Voted players

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Rank Player Nationality Club(s) Total Votes by place Votes
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
1st Pavel Nedvěd   Czech Republic   Juventus 190 27 9 2 6 1 45
2nd Thierry Henry   France   Arsenal 128 8 9 14 4 2 37
3rd Paolo Maldini   Italy   Milan 123 7 13 7 4 7 38
4th Andriy Shevchenko   Ukraine   Milan 67 3 8 3 4 3 21
5th Zinedine Zidane   France   Real Madrid 64 4 1 5 9 7 26
6th Ruud van Nistelrooy   Netherlands   Manchester United 61 1 4 5 11 3 24
7th Raúl   Spain   Real Madrid 32 1 2 4 1 5 13
8th Roberto Carlos   Brazil   Real Madrid 27 1 3 3 - 1 8
9th Gianluigi Buffon   Italy   Juventus 19 - 1 2 3 3 9
10th David Beckham   England   Manchester United
  Real Madrid
17 - 2 1 2 2 7
11th Ronaldo   Brazil   Real Madrid 11 - - 1 2 4 7
12th Henrik Larsson   Sweden   Celtic 6 - - 2 - - 2
13th Alessandro Del Piero   Italy   Juventus 4 - - 1 - 1 2
Dida   Brazil   Milan 4 - - 1 - 1 2
Roy Makaay   Netherlands   Deportivo La Coruña
  Bayern Munich
4 - - 1 - 1 2
Alessandro Nesta   Italy   Milan 4 - - - 2 - 2
Deco   Portugal   Porto 4 - - - - 4 4
18th Nihat Kahveci   Turkey   Real Sociedad 3 - - - 1 1 2
Francesco Totti   Italy   Roma 3 - - - 1 1 2
20th Michael Ballack   Germany   Bayern Munich 2 - - - 1 - 1
Zlatan Ibrahimović   Sweden   Ajax 2 - - - 1 - 1
22nd Filippo Inzaghi   Italy   Milan 1 - - - - 1 1
Jan Koller   Czech Republic   Borussia Dortmund 1 - - - - 1 1
Adrian Mutu   Romania   Parma
  Chelsea
1 - - - - 1 1
Ronaldinho   Brazil   Paris Saint-Germain
  Barcelona
1 - - - - 1 1
Francesco Toldo   Italy   Internazionale 1 - - - - 1 1

Non-voted players

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The following 24 men were originally in contention for the 2003 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:

Player Nationality Club(s)
Pablo Aimar   Argentina   Valencia
Sol Campbell   England   Arsenal
Iker Casillas   Spain   Real Madrid
Cristian Chivu   Romania   Ajax
  Roma
Samuel Eto'o   Cameroon   Mallorca
Luís Figo   Portugal   Real Madrid
Giovane Élber   Brazil   Bayern Munich
  Lyon
Ludovic Giuly   France   Monaco
Oliver Kahn   Germany   Bayern Munich
Patrick Kluivert   Netherlands   Barcelona
Darko Kovačević   Serbia and Montenegro   Real Sociedad
Claude Makélélé   France   Real Madrid
  Chelsea
Michael Owen   England   Liverpool
Pauleta   Portugal   Bordeaux
  Paris Saint-Germain
Robert Pires   France   Arsenal
Míchel Salgado   Spain   Real Madrid
Paul Scholes   England   Manchester United
Lilian Thuram   France   Juventus
Hatem Trabelsi   Tunisia   Ajax
David Trezeguet   France   Juventus
Patrick Vieira   France   Arsenal
Christian Vieri   Italy   Internazionale
Sylvain Wiltord   France   Arsenal
Gianluca Zambrotta   Italy   Juventus

References

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  1. ^ a b BBC Sport staff (22 December 2003). "Nedved scoops top award". BBC Sport.
  2. ^ Leite, Augusto (11 November 2003). "Deco na corrida à Bola de Ouro" [Deco racing for the Ballon D'or]. Record (in Portuguese).
  3. ^ a b Pierrend, José (26 March 2005). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 2003". RSSSF.
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