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.
Winners Source: YearRankPlayerClubPoints19911st Jean-Pierre Papin Marseille—19921st Marco van Basten AC Milan—19931st Roberto Baggio Juventus— 2nd Paolo Maldini AC Milan—19941st Paolo Maldini AC Milan—2nd Hristo Stoichkov Barcelona—19951st George Weah AC Milan—2nd Paolo Maldini AC Milan—19961st Ronaldo Barcelona—19971st Ronaldo Inter Milan—19981st Zinedine Zidane Juventus—19991st Rivaldo Barcelona752nd David Beckham Manchester United443rd Luís Figo Barcelona2320001st Luís Figo Real Madrid452nd Zinedine Zidane Juventus403rd Alessandro Nesta Lazio3020011st Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid412nd Michael Owen Liverpool403rd Raúl Real Madrid3620021st Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid592nd Roberto Carlos Real Madrid433rd Oliver Kahn Bayern Munich3420031st Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid452nd Pavel Nedvěd Juventus383rd Roberto Carlos Real Madrid3120041st Ronaldinho Barcelona—2nd Thierry Henry Arsenal—3rd Pavel Nedvěd Juventus—20051st Ronaldinho Barcelona592nd Frank Lampard Chelsea333rd John Terry Chelsea2420061st Ronaldinho Barcelona542nd Fabio Cannavaro Real Madrid433rd Thierry Henry Arsenal3520071st Kaká AC Milan—2nd Lionel Messi Barcelona—3rd Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United—20081st Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United642nd Lionel Messi Barcelona573rd Gianluigi Buffon Juventus—20091st Lionel Messi Barcelona—20101st Lionel Messi Barcelona—20111st Lionel Messi Barcelona—20121st Lionel Messi Barcelona1082nd Andrés Iniesta Barcelona933rd Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid9
Most wins by player 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 YearRankPlayerTeamPoints19911st Michel Platini France—19921st Johan Cruyff Barcelona—19931st Johan Cruyff Barcelona—19941st Johan Cruyff Barcelona—19951st Louis van Gaal Ajax—19961st Marcello Lippi Juventus—19971st Marcello Lippi Juventus—19981st Marcello Lippi Juventus—19991st Alex Ferguson Manchester United352nd Louis van Gaal Barcelona173rd Sven-Göran Eriksson Lazio1420001st Alex Ferguson Manchester United—20011st Ottmar Hitzfeld Bayern Munich—20021st Arsène Wenger Arsenal302nd Vicente del Bosque Real Madrid283rd Klaus Toppmöller Bayer Leverkusen2420031st Alex Ferguson Manchester United252nd Fabio Capello Roma24 Marcello Lippi Juventus2420041st José Mourinho Porto Chelsea—2nd Arsène Wenger Arsenal—3rd Fabio Capello Roma Juventus— Otto Rehhagel Greece20051st José Mourinho Chelsea482nd Rafael Benítez Liverpool32 Fabio Capello Juventus3220061st José Mourinho Chelsea462nd Frank Rijkaard Barcelona4320071st Arsène Wenger Arsenal—2nd Alex Ferguson Manchester United—20081st Alex Ferguson Manchester United—20121st Vicente del Bosque Spain—2nd José Mourinho Real Madrid—3rd Pep Guardiola Barcelona—
Team of the Year At least in some years El País also selected a Team of the Year. YearGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards1993 Peter Schmeichel Paolo Maldini Lothar Matthäus Jürgen Kohler Albert Ferrer Michael Laudrup Dennis Bergkamp Hristo Stoichkov Ryan Giggs Romário Roberto Baggio1994 Michel Preud'homme Paolo Maldini Fernando Couto Jorginho Gheorghe Hagi Hristo Stoichkov Tomas Brolin Andrei Kanchelskis Romário Roberto Baggio Michael Laudrup1995 Peter Schmeichel Paolo Maldini Franco Baresi Matthias Sammer Alessandro Del Piero Fernando Hierro Jari Litmanen Paulo Sousa Dejan Savićević Marc Overmars George Weah1999 Oliver Kahn Roberto Carlos Jaap Stam Lilian Thuram Rivaldo Juan Sebastián Verón Luís Figo David Beckham Christian Vieri Andriy Shevchenko Gabriel Batistuta
See also Onze Mondial European Footballer of the Year World Soccer Player of the Year The Guardian 100 Best Male Footballers in the World FourFourTwo Player of the Year Award FIFA World Player of the Year ESM Team of the Season
References
External links Original edition site: https://www.elpais.com.uy/ English edition site: https://elpais.com/elpais/inenglish.html