El País King of European Soccer

El País King of European Soccer (alternative: El País European Player of the Year) was an annual football award given by Uruguayan newspaper El País to the best footballer in Europe. It had been decided by several European sports experts, critics and journalists based on votes. Any player from a European team was eligible, regardless their country of origin. It was first awarded in 1991 with French Jean-Pierre Papin having been the inaugural winner. The last winner was Argentine Lionel Messi in 2012. Messi and Zinedine Zidane are the record winners of the award with four wins each.[1]

Winners edit

Source:[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Year Rank Player Club Points
1991 1st   Jean-Pierre Papin   Marseille
1992 1st   Marco van Basten   AC Milan
1993 1st   Roberto Baggio   Juventus
1994 1st   Paolo Maldini   AC Milan
1995 1st   George Weah   AC Milan
1996 1st   Ronaldo   Barcelona
1997 1st   Ronaldo   Inter Milan
1998 1st   Zinedine Zidane   Juventus
1999 1st   Rivaldo   Barcelona 75
2nd   David Beckham   Manchester United 44
3rd   Luís Figo   Barcelona 23
2000 1st   Luís Figo   Real Madrid 45
2nd   Zinedine Zidane   Juventus 40
3rd   Alessandro Nesta   Lazio 30
2001 1st   Zinedine Zidane   Real Madrid 41
2nd   Michael Owen   Liverpool 40
3rd   Raúl   Real Madrid 36
2002 1st   Zinedine Zidane   Real Madrid 59
2nd   Roberto Carlos   Real Madrid 43
3rd   Oliver Kahn   Bayern Munich 34
2003 1st   Zinedine Zidane   Real Madrid 45
2nd   Pavel Nedvěd   Juventus 38
3rd   Roberto Carlos   Real Madrid 31
2004 1st   Ronaldinho   Barcelona
2nd   Thierry Henry   Arsenal
3rd   Pavel Nedvěd   Juventus
2005 1st   Ronaldinho   Barcelona 59
2nd   Frank Lampard   Chelsea 33
3rd   John Terry   Chelsea 24
2006 1st   Ronaldinho   Barcelona 54
2nd   Fabio Cannavaro   Real Madrid 43
3rd   Thierry Henry   Arsenal 35
2007 1st   Kaká   AC Milan
2nd   Lionel Messi   Barcelona
3rd   Cristiano Ronaldo   Manchester United
2008 1st   Cristiano Ronaldo   Manchester United 64
2nd   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 57
3rd   Gianluigi Buffon   Juventus
2009 1st   Lionel Messi   Barcelona
2010 1st   Lionel Messi   Barcelona
2011 1st   Lionel Messi   Barcelona
2012 1st   Lionel Messi   Barcelona 108
2nd   Andrés Iniesta   Barcelona 93
3rd   Cristiano Ronaldo   Real Madrid 9
Zinedine Zidane (left) and Lionel Messi hold the record for the most wins, with 4 each.

Most wins by player edit

Consecutive wins
  • Lionel Messi is the only player in history to win the award in 4 consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012).
  • Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho won the award in 3 successive years (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, 2005, 2006, respectively).
  • Brazilian Ronaldo won the award twice in a row (1996, 1997).

European Coach of the Year edit

Year Rank Player Team Points
1991 1st   Michel Platini   France
1992 1st   Johan Cruyff   Barcelona
1993 1st   Johan Cruyff   Barcelona
1994 1st   Johan Cruyff   Barcelona
1995 1st   Louis van Gaal   Ajax
1996 1st   Marcello Lippi   Juventus
1997 1st   Marcello Lippi   Juventus
1998 1st   Marcello Lippi   Juventus
1999 1st   Alex Ferguson   Manchester United 35
2nd   Louis van Gaal   Barcelona 17
3rd   Sven-Göran Eriksson   Lazio 14
2000 1st   Alex Ferguson   Manchester United
2001 1st   Ottmar Hitzfeld   Bayern Munich
2002 1st   Arsène Wenger   Arsenal 30
2nd   Vicente del Bosque   Real Madrid 28
3rd   Klaus Toppmöller   Bayer Leverkusen 24
2003 1st   Alex Ferguson   Manchester United 25
2nd   Fabio Capello   Roma 24
  Marcello Lippi   Juventus 24
2004 1st   José Mourinho   Porto  Chelsea
2nd   Arsène Wenger   Arsenal
3rd   Fabio Capello   Roma

  Juventus

  Otto Rehhagel   Greece
2005 1st   José Mourinho   Chelsea 48
2nd   Rafael Benítez   Liverpool 32
  Fabio Capello   Juventus 32
2006 1st   José Mourinho   Chelsea 46
2nd   Frank Rijkaard   Barcelona 43
2007 1st   Arsène Wenger   Arsenal
2nd   Alex Ferguson   Manchester United
2008 1st   Alex Ferguson   Manchester United
2012 1st   Vicente del Bosque   Spain
2nd   José Mourinho   Real Madrid
3rd   Pep Guardiola   Barcelona

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Messi and Del Bosque crowned the 'Kings of Europe' | English". AS.com. 30 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018.
  2. ^ "European Player and Team of the Year". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  3. ^ "European Player, Team and Coach of the Year 1999". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  4. ^ "European Player of the Year 2000". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  5. ^ "European Player of the Year 2001". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2002". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  7. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2003". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2004". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  9. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2005". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  10. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2006". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  11. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2007". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  12. ^ "European Player and Coach of the Year 2008". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Messi and Del Bosque crowned the 'Kings of Europe' | English | AS.com". 21 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2023.

External links edit