South American Footballer of the Year

Juan Sebastián Verón is the current Rey de América, having won it twice.

The South American Footballer of the Year (Spanish: Rey del Fútbol de América, Portuguese: Rei da América) is an annual association football award. It is presented to the player who has been considered to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. The award was conceived by Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo, and it was awarded from 1971 to 1985. Uruguayan newspaper El País took over from 1986 onwards. The inaugural winner was Tostão of Cruzeiro.

Originally, journalists could vote for South American players at any club around the world; Mario Kempes was the first player to win the award while playing in a non-South American league. In 1986, there was a change in the rules to prohibit players not playing in South American leagues to win the award. Since 1998, the award could be won by South American players playing their club football in Mexico due to the participation of Mexican clubs in the Copa Libertadores. Three players have won the award three times each: Elías Figueroa, Zico and Carlos Tévez. Figueroa and Tévez are the only players to have won the award three times in a row; they won the award from 1974 to 1976 and 2003 to 2005, respectively. With 12 awards, Argentine players have won the Rey de América title the most. Argentine club River Plate have had the most winners with five awards. The most recent recipient of the Rey de América is Juan Sebastián Verón of Estudiantes de La Plata, winning his second consecutive award in 2009.

Winners

By year

Pelé, who won the award in 1973.

Elías Figueroa, who won the award in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Zico, who won the award in 1977, 1981 and 1982.

File:Makempes.jpeg

Mario Kempes, who won the award in 1978.

Diego Maradona won the award in 1979 and 1980.

Sócrates won the award in 1983.

Carlos Valderrama won the award in 1987 and 1993.

Bebeto won the award in 1989.

Raí won the award in 1992.

Cafu won the award in 1994.

Martín Palermo won the award in 1998.

Javier Saviola won the award in 1999.

File:Romário.jpg

Romário won the award in 2000.

By player

Juan Román Riquelme won the award in 2001.

José Cardozo won the award in 2002.

Player	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Zico	3 (1977, 1981, 1982)	1 (1976)	—
Elías Figueroa	3 (1974, 1975, 1976)	—	1 (1977)
Carlos Tévez	3 (2003, 2004, 2005)	—	—
Diego Maradona	2 (1979, 1980)	2 (1981, 1995)	1 (1982)
Enzo Francescoli	2 (1984, 1995)	2 (1985, 1996)	—
Carlos Valderrama	2 (1987, 1993)	—	1 (1996)
Juan Sebastián Verón	2 (2008, 2009)	—	—
Juan Román Riquelme	1 (2001)	2 (2000, 2008)	1 (1999)
José Luis Chilavert	1 (1996)	1 (1994)	1 (1997, 1998)
Pelé	1 (1973)	1 (1972)	—
Cafu	1 (1994)	1 (1993)	—
José Cardozo	1 (2002)	1 (2003)	—
Romario	1 (2000)	—	1 (2001)
Salvador Cabañas	1 (2007)	—	1 (2008)
Tostão	1 (1971)	—	—
Teófilo Cubillas	1 (1972)	—	—
Mario Kempes	1 (1978)	—	—
Sócrates	1 (1983)	—	—
Romerito	1 (1985)	—	—
Antonio Alzamendi	1 (1986)	—	—
Rubén Paz	1 (1988)	—	—
Bebeto	1 (1989)	—	—
Raúl Vicente Amarilla	1 (1990)	—	—
Oscar Ruggeri	1 (1991)	—	—
Raí	1 (1992)	—	—
Marcelo Salas	1 (1997)		—
Martín Palermo	1 (1998)	—	—
Javier Saviola	1 (1999)	—	—
Matías Fernández	1 (2006)	—	—

By country

Table of winners categorized by the player's nationality (not the nationality of his club).

Country	First place	Second place	Third place
Argentina	13 (1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009}	14 (1971, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008)	15 (1971, 1974, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1992*, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009)
Brazil	9 (1971, 1973, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1992, 1994, 2000)	8 (1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1989)	14 (1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1993*, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005)
Paraguay	5 (1985, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2007)	6 (1979, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007)	4 (1986, 1997, 1998, 2008)
Chile	5 (1974, 1975, 1976, 1997, 2006)	—	2 (1977, 1991)
Uruguay	4 (1984, 1986, 1988, 1995)	6 (1987, 1988, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2005)	6 (1975, 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2002)
Colombia	2 (1987, 1993)	1 (2001)	5 (1989, 1990*, 1996, 2000)
Peru	1 (1972)	—	—

*Two players from that same league shared their place.

By club

Club	First place	Second place	Third place
River Plate	5 (1984, 1986, 1995, 1997, 1999)	7 (1975, 1978, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2004)	2 (1996, 2004)
Boca Juniors	4 (1998, 2001, 2003, 2004)	7 (1981, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008)	4 (1999, 2000*, 2006, 2007)
Flamengo	3 (1977, 1981, 1982)	3 (1976, 1980, 1984)	2 (1981, 1995)
Internacional	3 (1974, 1975, 1976)	—	1 (1979)
São Paulo FC	2 (1992, 1994)	2 (1986, 2005)	2 (1993, 2005)
Vélez Sársfield	2 (1991, 1996)	1 (1994)	2 (1997, 1998)
Argentinos Juniors	2 (1979, 1980)	1 (1983)	1 (1985)
Corinthians	2 (1983, 2005)	1 (1998)	1 (1973)
Vasco da Gama	2 (1989, 2000)	1 (1989)	1 (2001)
Estudiantes	(2008, 2009)	—	—
Olimpia	1 (1990)	2 (1992, 2002)	—
Santos	1 (1973)	1 (1972)	2 (2003, 2004)
Fluminense	1 (1985)	1 (1977)	2 (1976, 1986)
Deportivo Toluca	1 (2002)	1 (2003)	—
Colo-Colo	1 (2006)	1 (1993)	—
América	1 (2007)	—	2 (1978, 2008)
Atlético Junior	1 (1993)	—	1 (1996)
Alianza Lima	1 (1972)	—	—
Valencia CF	1 (1978)	—	—
Deportivo Cali	1 (1987)	—	—
Racing Club	1 (1988)	—	—
Nacional	—	1 (1988)	4 (1971, 1980, 1988, 2002)
Independiente	—	1 (1971)	2 (1984, 1994)
Peñarol	—	1 (1987)	2 (1975, 1987)
Botafogo	—	1 (1974)	1 (1972)
Palmeiras	—	1 (1999)	1 (1993)
Club Atlético Huracán	—	1 (1973)	—
Sporting Cristal	—	1 (1977)	—
Sportivo Luqueño	—	1 (1979)	—
AS Roma	—	1 (1982)	—
LDU Quito	—	1 (2009)	—
Monterrey	—	1 (2009)	—
Atlético Nacional	—	—	3 (1989, 1990*)
SG Wattenscheid 09	—	—	1 (1974)
Palestino	—	—	1 (1977)
FC Barcelona	—	—	1 (1982)
Atlético Mineiro	—	—	1 (1983)
Universidad Católica	—	—	1 (1991)
San Lorenzo	—	—	1 (1992)
Newell's Old Boys	—	—	1 (1992)

*Two players from that same league shared their place.

See also

• South American Coach of the Year

References

General

• "South American Player of the Year ("Rey de América")". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2010.

Specific

External Links

• Diario El Mundo
• Diario El Pais