Chinese Sun Up for FIFA's World Female Player of the Year

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 24, 2001

Chinese Sun Up for FIFA's World Female Player of the Year

Chinese world-famous woman soccer player Sun Wen was nominated into the three finalists for the first-ever "World Female Player of the Year" by FIFA, the world governing body of soccer.

Chinese world-famous woman soccer player Sun Wen was nominated into the three finalists for the first-ever "World Female Player of the Year" by FIFA, the world governing body of soccer.

The winner will be announced on December 17 at the FIFA World Player Gala 2001 in Zurich, Switzerland. FIFA has named a men's "World Player of the Year" since 1991, but this will be the first year that a woman will be so honored.

Joining Sun for the finalists are two American players Tiffeny Milbrett and Mia Hamm, who were nominated in voting by 72 women's national team coaches from around the world.

The voting closed on October 31, 2001. While all the finalists lined up for the inaugural Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) league, Sun Wen was hampered by injuries and played in just 13 games while starting five. She scored one goal and had two assists, but her play off the bench was the key in helping the Atlanta Beat to the championship game.

Milbrett terrorized the WUSA inaugural season in 2001, scoring 16 goals with three assists and was named the WUSA's Most ValuablePlayer and Offensive Player of the Year. She played in five matches for the US national team in 2001, scoring in three of them. Hamm is the world's all-time leading scorer in international competition with 129 career goals by playing 219 matches for the United States. She led the Washington Freedom in scoring with sixgoals and four assists, but the Freedom was knocked out of the WUSA playoffs.

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