If you think Real Madrid is the only big team to attract the big guys in football then you are wrong.
AC Milan in the late 80s and 90s had most of the big guys and they won everything in club football like Barcelona did not long ago.
Juventus may not be as big as Real Madrid, however, some of the greatest players in football history have wore the famous black and white jersey.
John Charles, Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Omar Sivori, Del Pierro, Andrea Pirlo, Dechamps and a host of other legends have all adorn the Bianconeri colours.
Nonetheless, only a few of the players have won the Ballon d’Or award.
Omar Sivori (1957-1965)
Enrique Omar Sivori was an Italian Argentine footballer who played for River Plate, Juventus and Napoli. Born on 2 October 1935 in San Nicolas, Argentina, Sivori won the Ballon d’Or in 1961 while playing for Juventus. He won the Copa America with Argentina in 1957 before switching his nationality to play for Italy in the 1962 World Cup. He scored 9 goals in 19 matches for Argentina and 8 goals in 9 matches for Italy. Savori scored 176 goals in 341 matches for all the clubs he played for.
Paolo Rossi (1973-1975, 1981-1985)
Italy has given the world some of the best players in football history and some of those legends of the game wore the famous black and white jersey.
Paolo Rossi is among the best Italian footballers to have worn the famous jersey and also win the Balon d’Or and the World Cup. Born on September 23 1956, Rossi also played L.R Vicenza, Como, Perugia AC Milan and Hellas Verona. He played 251 games and scored 103 goals at club level and found the net 20 times in 48 games for his country. In 1982, Paolo Rossi scored six goals at the World Cup and won the Golden Boot, the Golden Ball as the best player and on 28 December that same year, he was given the Ballon d’Or.
Michel Platini (1982-1987)
Michel Francois Platini was born on 21 June 1955 at Jœuf, France. Platini, whose parents are of Italian ancestry played for Nancy, Saint-Etienne and Juventus, scoring 224 goals in 432 games. At the international level, he represented France and scored 41 goals in 72 goals for his country before playing for Kuwait in 1988. Platini also won the 1984 European Championship. At club level, it was with Juventus that he made his name. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1983, 1984 and 1985.
Roberto Baggio (1990-1995)
Baggio is one of the greatest players to have ever stepped on a football field. Born in 1967 on February 18, Baggio played for L.R Vincenza, Fiorentina, Juventus, Milan, Bologna, Internazionale Milan and Brescia. Although he played for three of the best clubs in Italy, the Italian made it into the history books when won the Ballon d’Or in 1994 while playing for Juventus. Baggio could have added a World Cup medal to his trophy cabinet but he missed Italy’s penalty at the 1994 World Cup final against Brazil in the USA.
Zinedine Zidane (1996-2001)
Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a French footballer of Algerian descent. Born on 23 June 1972 in Marseille, Zidane will always be remembered for his fantastic footballing skills, his two World Cup finals goal in 1998, the awe-inspiring volley in the 2002 Champions League final against Bayern Leverkusen, his red card for head-butting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in 2006 World Cup final and winning 3 consecutive UEFA Champions League trophy with Real Madrid.
Zizou before making a world record move to Real Madrid won the Ballon d’Or award with Juventus in 1998 wearing the number 21 jersey.
The football icon played a total of 506 games and scored 95 goals at club level and scored 31 goals in 108 games for France.
Pavel Nedved (2001-2009)
When Zidane left Juventus, Pavel Nedved replaced him and he was the perfect replacement for the Italian giant. Nedved joined Juventus from Lazio and won the Ballon d’Or in 2003. Born on 30 August 1972 in Czechoslovakia, Nedved played as an attacking midfielder and also as a winger. Considered as one of the greatest players in his generation, Nedved played 502 games and scored 110 goals.
Fabio Cannavaro (2004-2006, 2009-2010)
Unlike those above him, Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d’Or in 2006 when he joined Spanish giants Real Madrid. Before he joined Madrid, Fabio was wearing the famous black and white jersey. Born in Naples, Italy on 13 September 1973, Cannavaro played as a centre-back for Napoli, Internazionale Milan, Parma and Al-Ahli. He scored 16 goals in 531 games at club level and 2 goals in 136 games for Italy and won the World Cup as the captain for his country.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2018 )
The latest addition of Ballon d’Or winners to put on the black and white jersey is Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. While Zidane and Cannavaro left Juventus and joined Real Madrid, Ronaldo, on the other hand, left Real Madrid and joined Juventus. Ronaldo is seen as one of the greatest players of all time as he has broken and made a lot of records in football. Currently the all-time leading scorer for Real Madrid, Ronaldo has also played for Manchester United and Sporting CP. Currently, Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or award on 5 occasions – 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. He won the first won while playing for Manchester United and the last four during his days with Real Madrid.
Ronaldo made the list of Ballon d’Or winners to have worn the black and red jersey after he signed for Juventus on 16 July 2018.
