The twenty-third winner of the "Golden Ball" - Kevin Keegan

Twenty threethose Ballon d'Or winner - Kevin Keegan

First award for the best footballer in Europe for the English striker

The Ballon d'Or award for the best European footballer in 1978 was awarded to Kevin Keegan. After his second place in the previous ranking, the German Hamburg player won the award a year later. In the times of strong German football, for the third time in a row the prize for the best football player of the Old Continent goes to a player from the Bundesliga.

After finishing just 3 points behind Alan Simonsen in 1977, despite winning the European Champions Cup, the former Liverpool striker collected 87 points a year later. He is only 6 points ahead of the second-placed Hans Krankl from Austria. The Barcelona striker won 81 points from the voting of 26 journalists from the countries that are members of the European football headquarters - UEFA. Third is Rob Renzenbrink from Anderlecht, who is a representative of the second place in the World Cup in Argentina in the same year - the Netherlands.

The battle for the most prestigious individual award is once again fierce. 22 people each put Keegan and Krankle in the top 5. According to 9 people, the Englishman deserves the first position, according to six he should be second, four put him in third place, and three - in fourth place. For eight of those who have the right to vote, the Austrian striker should be the winner, three believe that he is worthy of the second position, eight are also his third places, two - fourth and one fifth.

The five are completed by two Italians. They are Juventus' Roberto Bettega, who collects 28 points, and Paolo Rossi, still representing the Vicenza team. The young striker collected 23 points. There are no Bulgarians in the ranking again. It is also curious that the first player from the winner of the CASH for the second year in a row Liverpool in the ranking is Kenny Dalglish. The Scotsman has only 10 points, with which he is eighth. Alan Simonsen finished in the same position, whose goalscoring form dropped significantly from the beginning of 1978.

Hamburger's ambitious side did not have a particularly good Bundesliga campaign in the 1977/78 season, finishing only 10th, and Keegan did not shine after swapping the English Championship for the West German Championship. Cologne makes a double in the country, triumphing with the cup. Hamburger did not feature in the European tournaments either, making Keegan an extremely surprising winner of the Ballon d'Or after his home country failed to qualify for the World Cup.

After a very strong 1977 and the double with Liverpool it seems far more shocking that he didn't pick up the award back then. However, Keegan becomes the fifth Englishman to be crowned with the prize for very different reasons. His leadership role at Hamburger shows huge growth in the Bundesliga side. He shines instantly with his incredible shot, great dribbling skills and brutal acceleration. The new Keegan, the one playing in Germany, shows that he can be extremely useful in every phase of the game. Extremely key in defence, in taking the ball away, building attacks and, of course, finishing them, he became the man of the team and it was no coincidence that he was voted the number one player for a season in the strongest championship in Europe at the time. Although far from successful, there is no player whose influence on his team is so serious, so distinctly noticeable.

As for Krankl, the second in the ranking, it marks her 4 goals in the world finals, in which Austria reached the second group stage. Only Rob Renzenbrink with five, who is also third in the Ballon d'Or standings, Peru's Teofilo Cubias, who also has five goals, and World Cup top scorer Mario Kempes of trophy winners Argentina finish with more goals. Yes, if the prize could go to a South American then, Kempes would be the undisputed winner. Especially since two of his goals came in the final against the Netherlands. Kempes is also LaLiga's top scorer with 28 goals.

However, the Ballon d'Or award is only given to players from Europe, so in 1978 it went to Kevin Keegan.