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O/T UEFA Best Player in Europe Award

Jordinho

Jordinho

Martin Peters
Staff member
Eight of the Spain squad which won UEFA EURO 2012 line up alongside the likes of inaugural winner Lionel Messi on a 32-player long list – to be cut to three next month – for the prestigious award.

Inaugural winner Lionel Messi is joined by the two men who he beat to last season's crown, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi Hernández, on a 32-player long list for the 2011/12 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award to be presented in Monaco on 30 August.

Born out of an initiative by UEFA President Michel Platini, the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award intends to revive the spirit of the old European Footballer of the Year honour. The trophy was handed out for the first time in Monaco last August as part of the draw ceremony for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

As was the case in 2011, a jury of journalists from each of UEFA's 53 member associations has provided a list of their best-ranked players. The players are ordered from one to five, with the first receiving five points, the second four points and so on.

On 14 August, UEFA.com will reveal the three players with the most points overall from the first round of voting. They will then proceed to the live vote in Monaco when the same journalists will use an electronic system to determine the winner from the three candidates.

Messi is one of four Barça players in contention. The other three – Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas – were all members of the Spain squad which won UEFA EURO 2012. Three of their international team-mates – Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos – are among six Real Madrid CF players in the hunt.

Along with the Spanish champions, English counterparts Emirates Marketing Project FC have a six-strong representation, two more than their Premier League rivals Chelsea FC who claimed a first UEFA Champions League crown in Munich in May.

Twelve clubs are represented in total, including Club Atlético de Madrid for whom Falcao makes the list after inspiring a second UEFA Europa League success in three seasons.

http://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/news/newsid=1840815.html

The 32-player long list is as follows (in alphabetical order):

Sergio Agüero (ARG) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Xabi Alonso (ESP) – Real Madrid CF
Mario Balotelli (ITA) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Jakub Błaszczykowski (POL) – Borussia Dortmund
Gianluigi Buffon (ITA) – Juventus
Iker Casillas (ESP) – Real Madrid CF
Petr Čech (CZE) – Chelsea FC
Fábio Coentrão (POR) – Real Madrid CF
Leslie Davies (WAL) – Bangor City FC
Didier Drogba (CIV) – Chelsea FC (now at Shanghai Shenhua FC)
Cesc Fàbregas (ESP) – FC Barcelona
Falcao (COL) – Club Atlético de Madrid
Joe Hart (ENG) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Zlatan Ibrahimović (SWE) – AC Milan
Andrés Iniesta (ESP) – FC Barcelona
Shinji Kagawa (JPN) – Borussia Dortmund (now at Manchester United FC)
Vincent Kompany (BEL) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Frank Lampard (ENG) – Chelsea FC
Lionel Messi (ARG) – FC Barcelona
Luka Modrić (CRO) – Tottenham Hotspur FC
Mesut Özil (GER) – Real Madrid CF
Pepe (POR) – Real Madrid CF
Andrea Pirlo (ITA) – Juventus
Sergio Ramos (ESP) – Real Madrid CF
Raúl González (ESP) – FC Schalke 04 (now at al-Sadd Sports Club)
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) – Real Madrid CF
Wayne Rooney (ENG) – Manchester United FC
David Silva (ESP) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Fernando Torres (ESP) – Chelsea FC
Yaya Touré (CIV) – Emirates Marketing Project FC
Robin van Persie (NED) – Arsenal FC
Xavi Hernández (ESP) – FC Barcelona
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jul/17/les-davies-wales-david-ginola

Call him the Welsh David Ginola. Because he's worth it. Sort of.

In much the same way that the man who liked to be known as Le Magnifique was declared the Premier League's Player of the Year in 1999 because the votes of most of the electorate were shared evenly across various members of Manchester United's treble-winning squad, quirkily leaving the Spurs man with the highest individual tally, the domination of Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo in the election for this season's Best Player in Europe award has enabled the Bangor City striker Les Davies to make it on to Uefa's 32-man long list by dint of receiving one first preference vote.

A journalist from each of the 53 Uefa member countries is allowed to nominate five players for the award first won by Stanley Matthews in 1956, with the journalist's first preference being awarded five points, second preference getting four points and so forth.

In the light of the nomination of Davies it would be easy to deride this voting system – or the system for choosing the journalists who do the voting – but instead let us hail Dave Jones of the Welsh Daily Post for deciding to use an otherwise vacuous accolade to nick some publicity for the Welsh Premier League and the unheralded players who toil therein.

This, surely, was a noble attempt to harness some of the glow from the sport's glamour boys to help grow the grassroots, or perhaps it was just a zeitgeisty attempt to emulate all those internet conspirators who amuse themselves by hijacking online surveys to nominate Bullet for My Valentine to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest or put Peppa Pig in the running for Time Magazine's Person of the Year.

"Les is an outstanding striker whose reputation has rocketed in the last couple of seasons," explained Jones of the 27-year-old part-time forward who now has a shot of collecting a gong previously lifted by Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane. "Every time he plays for Bangor City in Europe he makes life hell for all defenders."

And, indeed, Davies did give the Zimbru Chisinau defenders what for during this month's Europa League preliminary round tie, and even came close to scoring before the Moldovans eventually progressed 2-1 on aggregate thanks to a brace from Oleg Molla, who is curiously absent from the Ballon d'Or roll of honour.

As, indeed, is Rhys Griffiths, who has been top scorer in the Welsh Premier League for the last seven seasons.

There's your scandal right there.
 
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