UEFA Best Player in Europe Award

This article is about the men's award. For the women's award, see UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award.

The UEFA Best Player in Europe Award is an association football award given to the footballer playing for a football club in Europe that is considered the best in the previous season. The award, created in 2011 by UEFA, is aimed at reviving the European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or),[1][2] which was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2010 to become the FIFA Ballon d'Or.[3] It also replaced the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award.[4]

Since its inception, the award has been won by Lionel Messi a record two times (2011, 2015),[5] Andrés Iniesta (2012),[6] Franck Ribéry (2013)[7] and Cristiano Ronaldo (2014).[8] Female players are awarded the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award, introduced in 2013.[9]

Criteria

According to UEFA, the award "recognise[s] the best player, irrespective of his nationality, playing for a football club within the territory of a UEFA member association during the previous season."[1] Players are judged by their performances in all competitions, domestic and international, and at club and national team levels throughout the season.[1]

Voting

The award's voting format is a return to the old Ballon d'Or, which was decided purely by journalists.[2]

In the first round of voting, 54 sports journalists representing each of the UEFA national associations provide a list of their three best-ranked players from one to three, with the first player receiving five points, the second three points and the third one point. The three players with the most points overall are shortlisted.[1] The jury comprises renowned sports journalists representing each of UEFA's national associations, from RTV Albania to the Daily Post in Wales via members of European Sports Media, with whom UEFA collaborated on this award.[10] The final vote, also by the journalists, then takes place live via electronic voting during the presentation ceremony.[1]

Award history

Winners

Year Player Club
2010–11 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona
2011–12 Spain Andrés Iniesta Spain Barcelona
2012–13 France Franck Ribéry Germany Bayern Munich
2013–14 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid
2014–15 Argentina Lionel Messi Spain Barcelona

Finalists

      Winner       Shortlisted

2010–11

Rank Player First round[4] Final round Team
1 Argentina Lionel Messi – 39 Spain Barcelona
2 Spain Xavi – 11 Spain Barcelona
3 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo – 3 Spain Real Madrid
4 Spain Andrés Iniesta 33 – Spain Barcelona
5 Colombia Radamel Falcao 17 – Portugal Porto
6 England Wayne Rooney 15 – England Manchester United
7 Serbia Nemanja Vidić 5 – England Manchester United
8 Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimović 4 – Italy Milan
Spain Gerard Piqué 4 – Spain Barcelona
10 Germany Manuel Neuer 3 – Germany Schalke 04

2011–12

Rank Player First round[11] Final round Team
1 Spain Andrés Iniesta – 19 Spain Barcelona
2 Argentina Lionel Messi – 17 Spain Barcelona
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo – 17 Spain Real Madrid
4 Italy Andrea Pirlo 90 – Italy Juventus
5 Spain Xavi 57 – Spain Barcelona
6 Spain Iker Casillas 53 – Spain Real Madrid
7 Ivory Coast Didier Drogba 31 – England Chelsea
8 Czech Republic Petr Čech 14 – England Chelsea
Colombia Radamel Falcao 14 – Spain Atlético Madrid
10 Germany Mesut Özil 10 – Spain Real Madrid

2012–13

Rank Player First round Final round Team
1 France Franck Ribéry – 36 Germany Bayern Munich
2 Argentina Lionel Messi – 14 Spain Barcelona
3 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo – 3 Spain Real Madrid
4 Netherlands Arjen Robben 57 – Germany Bayern Munich
5 Poland Robert Lewandowski 39 – Germany Borussia Dortmund
6 Germany Thomas Müller 38 – Germany Bayern Munich
7 Germany Bastian Schweinsteiger 32 – Germany Bayern Munich
8 Wales Gareth Bale 24 – England Tottenham Hotspur
9 Sweden Zlatan Ibrahimović 14 – France Paris Saint-Germain
10 Netherlands Robin van Persie 10 – England Manchester United

2013–14

Rank Player First round[12] Final round Team
1 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo – 27 Spain Real Madrid
2 Germany Manuel Neuer – 18 Germany Bayern Munich
3 Netherlands Arjen Robben – 9 Germany Bayern Munich
4 Germany Thomas Müller 39 – Germany Bayern Munich
5 Germany Philipp Lahm 24 – Germany Bayern Munich
Argentina Lionel Messi 24 – Spain Barcelona
7 Colombia James Rodríguez 16 – France Monaco
8 Uruguay Luis Suárez 13 – England Liverpool
9 Argentina Ángel Di María 12 – Spain Real Madrid
10 Spain Diego Costa 8 – Spain Atlético Madrid

2014–15

Rank Player First round[13] Final round[14] Team
1 Argentina Lionel Messi - 49 Spain Barcelona
2 Uruguay Luis Suárez - 3 Spain Barcelona
3 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo - 2 Spain Real Madrid
4 Italy Gianluigi Buffon 24 – Italy Juventus
5 Brazil Neymar 23 – Spain Barcelona
6 Belgium Eden Hazard 21 – England Chelsea
7 Italy Andrea Pirlo 12 – Italy Juventus
8 Chile Arturo Vidal 11 – Italy Juventus
9 Argentina Carlos Tevez 8 – Italy Juventus
10 France Paul Pogba 5 – Italy Juventus

Most wins

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "UEFA Best Player in Europe Award launched". UEFA. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 Landolina, Salvatore (18 July 2011). "Uefa Launches Best Player In Europe Award". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "UEFA announces new award". ESPNSoccernet. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 "UEFA announces Shortlist for UEFA Best Player in Europe". UEFA. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  5. ↑ "Messi named Best Player in Europe for second time". Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Iniesta wins Best Player in Europe Award". UEFA. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Franck Ribéry wins UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2012/13". UEFA.com. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Uefa 2014 voting". UEFA. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  9. ↑ UEFA Media Services (22 August 2013). "UEFA launches Best Women’s Player in Europe Award". UEFA. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  10. ↑ "The voting panel". 14 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Iniesta, Messi, Ronaldo up for Best Player Award". UEFA. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "NEUER UND ROBBEN UNTER DEN TOP 3 EUROPAS". fcbayern.de. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "Best Player in Europe: Messi, Ronaldo or Suárez". uefa.com. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  14. ↑ "Messi named Best Player in Europe for second time". UEFA.com. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2274915.html
  16. ↑ uefa.com. "UEFA Champions League - News – UEFA.com". Retrieved 2015-09-12.

External links

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