Samba Gold
The "Samba Gold" (Samba d'Or) is a football award given to the best Brazilian footballer in Europe, as awarded by the Sambafoot Company. The inaugural award was made in 2008. The Samba Gold is determined by three voter panels: journalists, fellow footballers, and votes from Internet users.
History
- In 2008, the winner was Milan midfielder Kaká. Manchester City's Robinho and Sevilla's Luís Fabiano placed second and third in voting, respectively. There were 30 nominations. Voting took place from 1 December till 30 December. Kaká obtained 25.03% of the vote, with 14.34% for Robinho and 13.65% for Fabiano.[1]
- In 2009, Luis Fabiano (20.91%) from Sevilla won the trophy ahead of Júlio César (17.58%) and Kaká (16.35%).[2]
- In 2010, the prize was awarded to Maicon (12.60%) from Inter Milan running ahead of Hernanes (10.76%) and Thiago Silva (9.56%).[3][4]
- In 2011, A.C. Milan defender Thiago Silva (16.33%) won the award ahead of Daniel Alves from FC Barcelona (15.56%) and Hulk from F.C. Porto (14.41%).[5][6]
- In 2012, the list of 30 contenders was announced on 26 November.[7][8] PSG defender Thiago Silva (17.70%) was awarded the 2012 Samba Gold on 31 December beating Ramires (17.04%) and Willian (10.19%).[9]
- In 2013, Thiago Silva won for a third consecutive year, beating Dante and Oscar.[10]
- In 2014, Neymar won the award for the first time ever with a record percentage of votes.[11]
- In 2015, Neymar won the award for the second consecutive years.[12]
Winners
References