Czech Nedved voted European Footballer of the Year

Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved of Juventus won the Golden Ball as the European Footballer of the Year in a poll of European soccer journalists from 52 countries published by France Football magazine, the Italian club's official website said on Monday.

The 31-year-old was rewarded after a series of outstanding performances for Juventus as they retained the Italian League title and reached the Champions League final in May.

Nedved missed the final through suspension after being booked in the semi-final, when his spectacular performance was a major factor in the defeat of competition favourites Real Madrid.

Juventus lost the final on penalties to AC Milan.

Nedved, who was also voted best player of the year by the magazine World Soccer, is the second Czech to win the prestigious Golden Ball after Josef Masopust in 1962.

The Czech earned 190 points. Arsenal's Thierry Henry of France was second with 128 points ahead of AC Milan's Paolo Maldini on 123 points.

Ukraine's AC Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko was fourth on 67 points with FIFA's player of the year Zinedine Zidane of France fifth on 64 points.