UEFA has just confirmed that the following players Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the final candidates for ‘Best Player’ for the 2011/12 season, an award that will be announced during the draw for the group stage of the Champions League, which will take place on August 30th in Monaco.
Messi, who won the award last year and his teammate Andres Iniesta from FC Barcelona and one of the undisputed leaders of “La Roja” in the last July’s Euro 2012 Championship along with Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo, were the most voted by the 53 sports journalists representing each of the associated UEFA members.
Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta’s team-mate and second in the vote of 2011, finished in fifth place, just behind one of his rivals in the final of the last European Championship, veteran Juventus midfielder, Andrea Pirlo who also had a great Euro 2012 campaign.
In sixth position of the classification includes goalkeeper and captain of Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, Iker Casillas, while Colombian striker Radamel Falcao from Athletico Madrid comes in at ninth place. German midfielder of Real Madrid, Mesut Özil comes in at number 10.
In Monaco, the journalists will vote live via an electronic system for choosing the best player on this short list. This award, created in partnership with the European Sports Media (ESM), will recognize the best player, regardless of nationality, who were playing for a club belonging to the UEFA member associations during the previous season.
