Kick Off!
With Premier League and ISL matches going on, this seems a good time to talk about awards in football. Most of us know about the Ballon d’Or but did you know that there’s also an award called the European Golden Shoe or European Golden Boot? This is an award presented to the player who scored the most goals in league matches in the top division of every European national league. Sculpted like a football boot, the award was originally called Soulier d’Or and was instituted in the 1967-68 season. These players have won it more than once.
Six times
Lionel Messi: The Argentinean is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Four times
Cristiano Ronaldo: The Portuguese forward is the first European male footballer to have scored 100 international goals.
Twice
Eusebio: Nicknamed the Black Panther, Eusebio was known for his speed, technique, athleticism and his ferocious right-footed shot.
Gerd Muller: Known as Der bomber (the bomber), the German scored 68 goals in 62 international games.
Dudu Georgescu: The Romanian player was regarded as one of the best strikers in the country and was nominated thrice for the Ballon d’Or.
Fernando Gomes: The striker from Portugal was the recipient of 50 caps for Portugal.
Ally McCoist: The Scot is a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and had 61 international caps.
Mario Jardel: The Brazilian footballer was famous for his headers and scored 266 goals in 274 matches for European clubs.
Thierry Henry: The Frenchman is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and was the runner up for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004.
Diego Forlan: The Uruguayan forward was the join top scorer at the 2010 World Cip and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s Best Player.
Luis Suarez: Also from Uruguay, he was won 19 trophies in his career and is nicknamed El Pistolero or the Gunman.
Here’s a word search with these names. How many can you find in this grid?