One of the finest sweeper the game of football has ever produced, Matthias Sammer was voted the Ballon D'Or winner for the European Footballer of the Year in 1996 by France Football with his great efforts that helped Germany to victory in the UEFA Euro 96 in England. He was also instrumental in that same year to the exploits of his club Borussia Dortmond to win the German Bundesliga in the 1997/1996 season which culminated in them winning the UEFA Champions League in 1997.
Dynamo Moscow and Russia's shot stopper, Lev Yashin is the first and only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or Award in 1963 beating the likes of Gianni Rivera of AC Milan and Italy and Jimmy Greaves of Tottenham Hotspur and England to the prestigious statuette. He was nicknamed as "The Black Spider" because he famously wore a distinctive all-black outfit and it seemed as though he had eight arms to save almost everything.
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira emerged top scorer in the England 1966 FIFA World Cup finals with 9 goals, (6 of which were scored at Goodison Park) and also receiving the Bronze Ball award in the process. He is commonly known as Eusébio and helped the Portuguese national team reach third place. He won the Ballon d'Or award in 1965 and was runners-up in 1962 and 1966.
