Platini tips Deco for Golden Ball award

Juventus legend Michel Platini (pictured) believes AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko does not deserve to win the European Footballer of the Year award.

Juventus legend Michel Platini believes AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko does not deserve to win the European Footballer of the Year award.

Shevchenko is among the favorites to win the trophy because of his goalscoring exploits, but Platini argues the Barcelona midfielder Deco would be a more worthy recipient as he won the Champions League and the Portuguese league title with his former club Porto.

"I would give it to Deco because of what he has won in the past year," said Platini, who won the award in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

"It's the only valid criteria to decide who deserves to win it."

Last year's trophy was won by Juventus' Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved.

More commonly known as the Ballon D'Or (Golden Ball), the annual prize was created in 1956 by the French football magazine France Football.

Voting for the award is undertaken by a group of European football journalists and is given to the player considered to have performed the best in Europe over the past 12 months.

Platini, who captained France 49 times, scored 68 goals in 147 league games for Juventus and was regarded as one of the world's best number 10s.