Argentine Footballer of the Year

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The Footballer of the Year of Argentina (in Spanish: Olimpia de Plata al Mejor Futbolista, that literally translates to "Silver Olimpia to the Best Footballer) is a yearly award given by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle (Círculo de Periodistas Deportivos de la República Argentina) as one of the Olimpia Awards, the most important sports award in Argentina.

The Olimpia is awarded in the sport of association football (a.k.a. soccer), and, since 2008, is shared by the best player of the local league (who wins the Olimpia de Plata al Fútbol Local) and the best Argentine playing abroad (Olimpia de Plata al Fútbol del Exterior).

Up to 2008, the award was not shared, and was either given to the best player of Argentine nationality of the season (regardless if he plays in the local league or abroad), or to the best foreign footballer of the local league. It is unclear when Argentine footballers playing abroad and expatriate players in the country started being eligible. Mario Kempes in 1978 was the first Argentine to receive the award while playing abroad. Kempes was playing in the Spanish league for Valencia CF at the time, and had been a key player in the Argentine national team World Cup winning campaign of that year. On the other hand, Uruguayan Enzo Francescoli was the first foreign player to receive the award (in 1985, playing for River Plate).

Lionel Messi is the award's all-time record holder with twelve wins, seven of which were in a row. He is also the current(2019) holder of the award.

Winners[]

Lionel Messi has dominated the award by winning it a record 12 times, 7 of which consecutively.

All players and clubs are Argentine, unless otherwise noted.

Year	Player	Club	Note
1970	Héctor Yazalde	Independiente	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1970.
1971	José Omar Pastoriza	Independiente	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1971.
1972	Ángel Bargas	Chacarita Juniors
1973	Miguel Ángel Brindisi	Huracán	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1973, the club's first ever professional title.
1974	Miguel Ángel Raimondo	Independiente	Won the 1974 Copa Libertadores and the 1974 Copa Interamericana.
1975	Héctor Scotta	San Lorenzo	Top scorer of the Torneo Metropolitano 1975 and the Torneo Nacional 1975. Top scorer in South America.
1976	Daniel Passarella	River Plate	Reached the final of the 1976 Copa Libertadores.
1977	Ubaldo Fillol	River Plate	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1977
1978	Mario Kempes	Valencia ( Spain)	Won the 1978 FIFA World Cup, best player and top scorer of the tournament. Won the Pichichi Trophy. Named South American Footballer of the Year and Onze d'Or.
1979	Diego Maradona	Argentinos Juniors	Won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship (MVP), top goalscorer of the Torneo Metropolitano 1979 and Torneo Nacional 1979. Won Olimpia de Oro. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1980	Diego Maradona	Argentinos Juniors	Top goalscorer of the Torneo Metropolitano 1980 and Torneo Nacional 1980. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1981	Diego Maradona	Boca Juniors	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1981
1982	Hugo Orlando Gatti	Boca Juniors
1983	Ricardo Bochini	Independiente	Won the Torneo Metropolitano 1983.
1984	Alberto Márcico	Ferro Carril Oeste	Won the Torneo Nacional 1984
1985	Enzo Francescoli ( Uruguayan)	River Plate	Although his team did not win the championship in 1985, Francescoli became the first foreign player to be named Footballer of the Year of Argentina.
1986	Diego Maradona	Napoli ( Italy)	Captained Argentina to win the FIFA World Cup, named best player of the tournament, scored the "Goal of the Century", won Olimpia de Oro, Onze d'Or, United Press International Athlete of the Year Award and World Soccer Awards Player of the Year.
1987	Néstor Fabbri	Racing Club
1988	Rubén Paz ( Uruguayan)	Racing Club	Won the 1988 Supercopa Libertadores. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1989	Carlos Alfaro Moreno	Independiente	Won the 1988–89 Argentine Primera División.
1990	Sergio Goycochea	Millonarios ( Colombia) / Racing Club	Golden Glove at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
1991	Oscar Ruggeri	Vélez Sarsfield	Captained Argentina to win their first Copa America since 1959. Won Olimpia de Oro. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1992	Luis Islas	Independiente	Won the 1992 King Fahd Cup.
1993	Ramón Medina Bello	River Plate	Won the Torneo Apertura 1993 and the 1993 Copa América.
1994	Carlos Navarro Montoya	Boca Juniors
1995	Enzo Francescoli ( Uruguayan)	River Plate	Won the 1995 Copa América (MVP). Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1996	José Luis Chilavert ( Paraguayan)	Vélez Sarsfield	Won the 1996 Supercopa Libertadores, Torneo Apertura 1996 and 1994 Copa Interamericana (played in 1996). Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1997	Marcelo Salas ( Chilean)	River Plate	Won the 1997 Supercopa Libertadores, Torneo Clausura 1997 and Torneo Apertura 1997. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
1998	Gabriel Batistuta	Fiorentina ( Italy)	FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
1999	Javier Saviola	River Plate	Champion and top goalscorer of the Torneo Apertura 1999. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
2000	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	Won the 2000 Intercontinental Cup, 2000 Copa Libertadores and Torneo Apertura 2000.
2001	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	Won the 2001 Copa Libertadores (MVP). Named South American Footballer of the Year.
2002	Gabriel Milito	Independiente	Led the team that won the Torneo Apertura 2002.
2003	Carlos Tevez	Boca Juniors	Won the 2003 Intercontinental Cup, 2003 Copa Libertadores (MVP), Torneo Apertura 2003. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
2004	Carlos Tevez	Boca Juniors	Won the 2004 Copa Sudamericana, the 2004 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament, gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, Olimpia de Oro. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
2005	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, top scorer and best player of the tournament. Won the 2004–05 La Liga.
2006	Juan Sebastián Verón	Estudiantes de La Plata	Led the team that won the Torneo Apertura 2006.
2007[1]	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won Copa América Best Young Player and Bravo Award.
2008[1]	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	Led the team that won the Torneo Apertura 2008 and the 2008 Recopa Sudamericana. Won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
2009[1]	Juan Sebastián Verón	Estudiantes de La Plata	Led the team that won the 2009 Copa Libertadores, named best player of the tournament and South American Footballer of the Year.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, 2009 UEFA Super Cup, 2008–09 La Liga, 2008–09 Copa del Rey, 2009 Supercopa de España, 2009 Ballon d'Or, 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year and Onze d'Or.
2010[1]	Juan Manuel Martínez	Vélez Sársfield
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2009–10 La Liga, 2010 Supercopa de España, 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe.
2011[1]	Juan Román Riquelme	Boca Juniors	Led the team that won the Torneo Apertura 2011.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, 2011 UEFA Super Cup, 2010–11 La Liga, 2011 Supercopa de España, 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, Onze d'Or and Olimpia de Oro.
2012[2]	Lisandro López	Arsenal de Sarandí	Led the team that won the Torneo Clausura 2012 and the 2012 Supercopa Argentina, the first national titles in the club's history.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2011–12 Copa del Rey. Won the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or, Onze d'Or, Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe.
2013[3]	Maxi Rodríguez	Newell's Old Boys	Led the team that won the Torneo Final 2013.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2012–13 La Liga and the 2013 Supercopa de España. Won the Pichichi Trophy, European Golden Shoe and FIFA World Cup Golden Ball and reached the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
2014[4]	Lucas Pratto	Vélez Sarsfield	Top goalscorer of the 2014 Argentine Primera División, won the 2013 Supercopa Argentina.
	Ángel Di María	Manchester United ( England)	Won the 2013–14 Copa Del Rey, 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, 2014 UEFA Super Cup and reached the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
2015[5]	Marco Ruben	Rosario Central	Top goalscorer of the 2015 Argentine Primera División
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, 2015 UEFA Super Cup, 2014–15 La Liga and 2014–15 Copa del Rey. Won the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or and UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award.
2016	Fernando Belluschi	San Lorenzo	Won the 2015 Supercopa Argentina and chosen as man of the match.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2015–16 La Liga, the 2015–16 Copa del Rey and the 2016 Supercopa de España.
2017	Darío Benedetto	Boca Juniors	Top goalscorer and champion of the 2016–17 Argentine Primera División.
	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2016–17 Copa del Rey, European Golden Shoe, Pichichi Trophy.
2018	Pity Martínez	River Plate	Led the team that won the 2018 Copa Libertadores and the 2017 Supercopa Argentina (played in 2018), both finals against Boca Juniors. Named South American Footballer of the Year.
2019	Lionel Messi	Barcelona ( Spain)	Won the 2018–19 La Liga, 2019 Ballon d'Or, The Best FIFA Men's Player,Won the Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe

Most Wins[]

External links[]

• Sports Journalists' Circle official website (in Spanish)
• Argentina - Player of the Year

References[]