Ballon d’Or winner dies

Baku. 3 March. REPORT.AZ/ Raymond Kopa, a former Real Madrid attacking midfielder who became the first French player to win the Ballon d’Or, has died. He was 85.

Report informs citing the France Presse, a graceful player with a magnificent eye for passing, Kopa won the Ballon d’Or in 1958, when he played for Real. He won the European Cup three times with the Spanish club.

Kopa, the son of Polish immigrants, started with Angers before joining Reims, the club where he spent most of his career. He played 45 times for France, scoring 18 goals.

Kopa played against Real for Reims in the inaugural European Cup final in 1956 and joined the Spanish giants that summer. He then played in three further finals for Real, with the last of them coming against Reims in 1959.

He returned to the French club at the end of the season and remained with them until his retirement in 1967.