7 players who have won the Ballon d'Or consecutively
The world's most craved football award, the Ballon d'Or, was first introduced in 1956 and immediately caught the imagination of fans and players worldwide. It soon became the holy grail of football, the symbol of excellence, the one absolute award every player desired, but few got their hands on.
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To win the award once is an achievement of a lifetime, to win it more than once is something only a handful of men have managed in their careers. However, some players not only won the awards more than once but actually won it consecutively, a feat that required tremendous levels of consistency. Today we take a look at 6 players who won the Ballon d'Or consecutively and etched their names in history.
#7 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany, Bayern Munich)
The former Bayern Munich footballer was a formidable player during his career. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was born on 25th September 1955 at Lippstadt in West Germany. He started his footballing career with local side Borussia Lippstadt before he was picked up by Bayern Munich in 1974.
The young dribbler with an eye for goal was immediately noticed by the coaches and management. Rummenigge showed great promise and developed from a youth prodigy to a talented footballer under the guidance of Pal Csernai, who had taken over the reins at Bayern Munich in 1979.
In the 1979/80 season, the German footballer was on fire. His goalscoring prowess lit up the Bundesliga and helped his club win the title. Rummenigge managed to score 26 goals in the league and finished as the top scorer in Bundesliga. In total, the German scored 36 goals from 47 games and caught the imagination of football fans around the globe.
Rummenigge went on to receive the 1980 Ballon d'Or, capping off a fine season. He finished with 122 points, beating countryman Bernd Schuster and Frenchman Michel Platini to become the best player of the year.
The German followed that up with another stellar season with Bayern, scoring 29 goals from 34 games in the league and helping Bayern to another Bundesliga title. He was once again adjudged the top scorer of the league and managed to score 39 goals from 45 games in all competitions. That resulted in him winning his second Ballon d'Or in 1981, where he secured the top prize with 106 points and became, at that time, only the third player to win consecutive Ballon d'Or awards.