Voyageurs Vote Radz

Tomasz Radzinski named Voyageurs Canadian International Player of the Year for 2008
Winnipeg, MB – The Voyageurs, Canada’s largest community of soccer supporters, has named Tomasz Radzinski the winner of the Canadian International Player of the Year award for 2008.

Polling was conducted online on The Voyageurs message board throughout the month of December 2008. Along with earning the highest aggregate total, Radzinski also earned the greatest number of 1st and 2nd place votes.

This award reflects supporters’ appreciation for the inspired contributions put forth by Radzinski during Canada’s World Cup Qualifying campaign during the summer/fall of 2008. It also recognizes the goal scoring prowess he has exhibited in the first half of the 2008/2009 season for Belgian 2nd division side Lierse S.K. (his current club) and his impressive play for Skoda Xanthi SC of the Greek SuperLeague during the 2007-2008 season.

Easily the most famous Canadian footballer of this generation, Radzinski has lived a charmed life over the past several seasons, escaping serious injury while producing impressive goal scoring results in England, Greece and Belgium.

He led Skoda Xanthi in scoring during the 07/08 season with 14 goals, finishing as the fourth leading scorer in the Greek SuperLeague. He has continued his furious goal scoring pace after his off-season move to new club Lierse S.K., bagging 9 goals in 14 games and his performance for the new club is a big reason why Lierse is a heavy favorite for promotion to the Belgian top division for the 2009-2010 campaign. For Canada, Radzinski managed 1 goal in nine appearances in 2008.

Radzinski’s professional career, which began in the defunct Canadian Soccer League when he played for the North York Rockets, ranks as one of the most distinguished of any Canadian footballer. His resumé includes the honour of having the highest ever transfer fee paid for a Canadian when his goal scoring exploits for Belgian club Anderlecht in both domestic league and UEFA Champions League play resulted in a 2001 transfer to Everton of the English Premier League for £4.5 million.

Over the years, Radzinski has used his seniority within the Canadian Men’s National Team to act as a player advocate while enthusiastically promoting the sport of soccer both at home and abroad.

The Voyageurs congratulate Tomasz Radzinski for his outstanding performance in 2008 and for his distinguished career playing for Canada’s National Team. It is believed that he is retiring from the national team and he will be missed by all Canadian soccer supporters.

Tomasz Radzinski – Brief Biography

Born … Poznan, Poland (December 14th, 1973)
Height … 1.74m (5’ 8”)
Position … Striker / Attacking Midfielder
Footed … Right

National Team Appearances in 2008 … 9 (1 goal, 1 caution)
Total Senior Caps … 45
Total Senior Goals … 10

Professional Club History
90-93 … North York Rockets (Canadian Soccer League / National Soccer League)
94 … St Catherines Roma (National Soccer League)
94-98 … Germinal Ekeren (Belgium First Division)
98-01 … Anderlecht (Belgium First Division)

01-04 … Everton (English Premier League)
04-07 … Fulham (English Premier League)
07-08 … Skoda Xanthi (Greek SuperLeague)
08 … Lierse S.K. (Belgium Second Division)

Honourable Mentions
Last year’s runaway winner of the International Player of the Year award, Julian de Guzman of Deportivo la Coruna finished a strong 2nd in polling after enjoying another wonderful year in 2008. He was a key contributor to Deportivo’s late season run of successful results, helping the club avoid relegation. For that, he was named Deportivo’s Player of the Year for the 2007/2008 season, the first time a Canadian footballer has received that honour at such a high level. He continues to be an important contributor to a rejuvenated Deportivo side in 2008/2009, helping the team to impressive results in UEFA Cup competition and a strong place in the league standings. His fine play in 2008 also carried over when he suited up for Canada’s National Team, for whom he scored a highlight reel worthy goal against Brazil in a friendly as well as bagging the opening goal in Canada’s World Cup Qualifying campaign vs. Jamaica at Toronto’s BMO Field in front of a boisterous hometown crowd.
 
Ali Gerba’s impressive goal scoring exploits during World Cup Qualifying for Canada did not go unnoticed during voting. His strong performances with the Canadian national team, including home and away goals against Mexico, coupled with a good start for English League One club Milton Keynes Dons allowed the striker to finish a comfortable third in Player of the Year polling.

Voting Statistics
Tomasz Radzinski (Club: Lierse S.K. of Belgium)
42 (1st place votes)
22 (2nd place votes)
13 (3rd place votes)
for a total of 289 pts

Appeared on 87.5% of ballots submitted

Julian de Guzman (Club: Deportivo la Coruna of Spain)
28 (1st place votes)
17 (2nd place votes)
11 (3rd place votes)
for a total of 202 pts

Appeared on 63.6% of ballots submitted
 
Ali Gerba (Club: Milton Keynes Dons of England)
12 (1st place votes)
13 (2nd place votes)
18 (3rd place votes)
for a total of 117 pts

Appeared on 48.8% of ballots submitted
 
Rob Friend (Club: Borussia Monchengladbach of Germany)
3 (1st place votes)
13 (2nd place votes)
13 (3rd place votes)
for a total of 67 points

Appeared on 32.9% of ballots submitted
 
In total 17 different players received either a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place vote during the 2008 polling window.