Grafite voted Germany’s football of the year

HANOVER - Bundesliga top scorer Grafite of VfL Wolfsburg has been voted Germany’s footballer of the year by sports journalists.

The traditional vote carried out by Kicker magazine and participated in by 1,042 journalists saw Brazilian Grafite receive 331 votes, followed by 171 for striker Mario Gomez, who has since moved from VfB Stuttgart to Bayern Munich.

Grafite’s team-mate Edin Dzeko finished third in the list on 169 while Felix Magath, the man who led Wolfsburg to their first title triumph before moving to Schalke 04, was voted coach of the year.

Grafite netted 28 goals in just 25 appearances last season and has been rewarded with a contract extension until 2012. Strike partner Dzeko has also negotiated a new deal that sees the Bosnia-Herzegovina striker staying at Wolfsburg until 2013.

“I want to do even better (this season) and score more goals,” said Grafite. “If I manage to play more games than last year then it’s possible.”