[A South American player of the year has been awarded since 1971. From 1971 until 1992 the Venezuelan newspaper "El Mundo" awarded it, and it was open to any South American player. This award may be considered the official one until 1985. Since 1986 the Uruguayan newspaper El País chooses the "Rey del Fútbol de América" which has obtained official status. Only South American players of South American clubs are eligible.]
1971 Eduardo Gonçalvez de Andrade TOSTÃO (Bra) Cruzeiro (Bra) 1972 Teófilo CUBILLAS (Per) Alianza Lima (Per) 1973 Edson Arantes do Nascimento PELÉ (Bra) Santos (Bra) 1974 Elías FIGUEROA (Chi) Internacional-RS (Bra) 1975 Elías FIGUEROA (Chi) Internacional-RS (Bra) 1976 Elías FIGUEROA (Chi) Internacional-RS (Bra) 1977 Arthur Antunes Coimbra ZICO (Bra) Flamengo (Bra) 1978 Mario KEMPES (Arg) Valencia (Spa) 1979 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Argentinos Juniors (Arg) 1980 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 1981 Arthur Antunes Coimbra ZICO (Bra) Flamengo (Bra) 1982 Arthur Antunes Coimbra ZICO (Bra) Flamengo (Bra) 1983 SOCRATES Souza Oliveira (Bra) Corinthians (Bra) 1984 Enzo FRANCESCOLI (Uru) River Plate (Arg) 1985 Julio César ROMERO (Par) Fluminense (Bra) 1986 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Napoli (Ita) 1987 Carlos VALDERRAMA (Col) Deportivo Cali (Col) 1988 Rubén PAZ (Uru) Racing Club (Arg) 1989 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Napoli (Ita) 1990 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Napoli (Ita) 1991 Gabriel BATISTUTA (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) / Fiorentina (Ita) 1992 Diego MARADONA (Arg) Sevilla (Esp)
1986 Antonio ALZAMENDI (Uru) River Plate (Arg) 1987 Carlos VALDERRAMA (Col) Deportivo Cali (Col) 1988 Rubén PAZ (Uru) Racing Club (Arg) 1989 José Gama Oliveira BEBETO (Bra) Vasco da Gama (Bra) 1990 Raúl AMARILLA (Par) Olimpia (Par) 1991 Oscar RUGGERI (Arg) Vélez Sarsfield (Arg) 1992 RAÍ Souza Oliveira (Bra) São Paulo (Bra) 1993 Carlos VALDERRAMA (Col) Atlético Junior (Col) 1994 Marcos Morais CAFÚ (Bra) São Paulo (Bra) 1995 Enzo FRANCESCOLI (Uru) River Plate (Arg) 1996 José Luis CHILAVERT (Par) Vélez Sarsfield (Arg) 1997 Marcelo SALAS (Chi) River Plate (Arg) 1998 Martín PALERMO (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 1999 Javier SAVIOLA (Arg) River Plate (Arg) 2000 ROMÁRIO de Souza Faria (Bra) Vasco da Gama (Bra) 2001 Juan Román RIQUELME (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2002 José Saturnino CARDOZO (Par) Club Deportivo Toluca (Mex) 2003 Carlos TÉVEZ (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2004 Carlos TÉVEZ (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2005 Carlos TÉVEZ (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) / Corinthians (Bra) 2006 Matías FERNÁNDEZ (Chi) Colo Colo (Chi) 2007 Salvador CABAÑAS (Par) C.F. América (Mex) 2008 Juan Sebastián VERÓN (Arg) Estudiantes de La Plata (Arg) 2009 Juan Sebastián VERÓN (Arg) Estudiantes de La Plata (Arg) 2010 Andrés D'ALESSANDRO (Arg) Internacional-RS (Bra) 2011 NEYMAR da Silva Santos Júnior (Bra) Santos (Bra) 2012 NEYMAR da Silva Santos Júnior (Bra) Santos (Bra) 2013 RONALDINHO de Assis Moreira (Bra) Atlético Mineiro (Bra) 2014 Teófilo GUTIÉRREZ (Col) River Plate (Arg) 2015 Carlos SANCHEZ (Uru) River Plate (Arg) 2016 Miguel BORJA (Col) Atlético Nacional (Col) 2017 LUAN Guilherme de Jesus Vieira (Bra) Grêmio (Bra) 2018 Gonzalo MARTÍNEZ (Arg) River Plate (Arg) 2019 GABRIEL BARBOSA Almeida (Bra) Flamengo (Bra) 2020 MARINHO Sérgio Santos Costa (Bra) Santos (Bra) 2021 Julián ÁLVAREZ (Arg) River Plate (Arg) 2022 PEDRO Guilherme Abreu (Bra) Flamengo (Bra)
Year 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place 1986 Antonio ALZAMENDI Antonio CARECA Julio César ROMERO 1987 Carlos VALDERRAMA Obdulio TRASANTE José PERDOMO 1988 Rubén PAZ Hugo DE LEON GEOVANI Silva / Claudio TAFFAREL 1989 José Gama Oliveira BEBETO Iomar Nascimento MAZINHO René HIGUITA 1990 Raúl AMARILLA Rubén DA SILVA Leonel ALVAREZ / René HIGUITA 1991 Oscar RUGGERI Ramón DIAZ Patricio TOLEDO 1992 RAÍ Souza Oliveira Sergio GOYCOECHEA Alberto ACOSTA / Fernando GAMBOA 1993 Carlos VALDERRAMA Marco ETCHEVERRY Marcos Morais CAFU / Freddy RINCÓN 1994 Marcos Morais CAFU José Luis CHILAVERT Gustavo LOPEZ 1995 Enzo FRANCESCOLI Diego MARADONA EDMUNDO Alves 1996 José Luis CHILAVERT Enzo FRANCESCOLI Ariel ORTEGA / Carlos VALDERRAMA 1997 Marcelo SALAS Nolberto SOLANO José Luis CHILAVERT 1998 Martín PALERMO Carlos GAMARRA José Luis CHILAVERT 1999 Javier SAVIOLA Francisco ARCE Juan Román RIQUELME 2000 ROMÁRIO Souza Faria Juan Román RIQUELME Oscar CORDOBA / Martín PALERMO 2001 Juan Román RIQUELME Oscar CORDOBA ROMÁRIO Souza Faria 2002 José Saturnino CARDOZO Sergio ORTEMAN Alejandro LEMBO 2003 Carlos TÉVEZ José Saturnino CARDOZO DIEGO Ribas da Cunha 2004 Carlos TÉVEZ Javier MASCHERANO Luis GONZÁLEZ / Robson de Souza "ROBINHO" 2005 Carlos TÉVEZ Diego LUGANO Cicero João de Cezare "CICINHO" 2006 Matías FERNÁNDEZ Rodrigo PALACIO Fernando GAGO 2007 Salvador CABAÑAS Claudio MOREL RODRÍGUEZ Hugo IBARRA 2008 Juan Sebastián VERÓN Juan Román RIQUELME Salvador CABAÑAS 2009 Juan Sebastián VERÓN É. MÉNDEZ / H. SUAZO Leandro DESÁBATO 2010 Andrés D'ALESSANDRO Juan Sebastián VERÓN NEYMAR da Silva Santos Júnior 2011 NEYMAR da Silva Eduardo VARGAS Paulo Henrique GANSO 2012 NEYMAR da Silva Paolo GUERRERO LUCAS Rodrigues Moura da Silva 2013 RONALDINHO Assis Moreira NEYMAR da Silva Maxi RODRIGUEZ 2014 Teófilo GUTIÉRREZ Carlos SANCHEZ Leonardo PISCULICHI 2015 Carlos SANCHEZ Carlos TÉVEZ Miler BOLAÑOS 2016 Miguel BORJA Gabriel JESUS Alejandro GUERRA 2017 LUAN Guilherme Vieira Paolo GUERRERO ARTHUR Melo 2018 Gonzalo MARTÍNEZ Juan Fernando QUINTERO Franco ARMANI 2019 GABRIEL BARBOSA Almeida BRUNO HENRIQUE Pinto Giorgian Daniel DE ARRASCAETA 2020 MARINHO Sérgio Santos C. Ignacio FERNÁNDEZ Gustavo GÓMEZ 2021 Julián ÁLVAREZ GABRIEL BARBOSA Almeida Gustavo GÓMEZ 2022 PEDRO Guilherme Abreu Giorgian D. DE ARRASCAETA Julián ÁLVAREZ
[Organized by El País, Uruguay; only South American coaches of South American clubs or national teams are eligible.] 1986 Carlos BILARDO (Arg) Argentina 1987 Carlos BILARDO (Arg) Argentina 1988 Roberto FLEITAS (Uru) Nacional (Uru) 1989 Sebastião LAZARONI (Bra) Brazil 1990 Luís CUBILLA (Uru) Olimpia (Par) 1991 Alfio BASILE (Arg) Argentina 1992 Têle SANTANA (Bra) São Paulo (Bra) 1993 Francisco MATURANA (Col) Colombia 1994 Carlos BIANCHI (Arg) Vélez Sarsfield (Arg) 1995 Héctor NUÑEZ (Uru) Uruguay 1996 Hernán Darío GOMEZ (Col) Colombia 1997 Daniel PASSARELLA (Arg) Argentina 1998 Carlos BIANCHI (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 1999 Luiz Felipe SCOLARI (Bra) Palmeiras (Bra) 2000 Carlos BIANCHI (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2001 Carlos BIANCHI (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2002 Luiz Felipe SCOLARI (Bra) Brazil 2003 Carlos BIANCHI (Arg) Boca Juniors (Arg) 2004 Luis Fernando MONTOYA (Col) Once Caldas (Col) 2005 Aníbal RUIZ (Uru) Paraguay 2006 Claudio BORGHI (Arg) Colo Colo (Chi) 2007 Gerardo MARTINO (Arg) Paraguay 2008 Edgardo BAUZA (Arg) L.D.U. Quito (Ecu) 2009 Marcelo BIELSA (Arg) Chile 2010 Óscar TABÁREZ (Uru) Uruguay 2011 Óscar TABÁREZ (Uru) Uruguay 2012 José PÉKERMAN (Arg) Colombia 2013 José PÉKERMAN (Arg) Colombia 2014 José PÉKERMAN (Arg) Colombia 2015 Jorge SAMPAOLI (Arg) Chile 2016 Reinaldo RUEDA (Col) Atlético Nacional 2017 TITE Adenor Leonardo Bacchi (Bra) Brazil 2018 Marcelo GALLARDO River Plate 2019 Marcelo GALLARDO River Plate 2020 Marcelo GALLARDO (Arg) River Plate 2021 Abel FERREIRA (Por) Palmeiras 2022 Lionel SCALONI (Arg) Argentina
Thanks to Roberto Di Maggio for updates
Prepared and maintained by José Luis Pierrend for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: José Luis Pierrend
(josepie@hotmail.com)
Last updated: 1 Jun 2023
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