Neymar has won the Samba Gold award, which is granted by Sambafoot to the best Brazilian player playing abroad, for the sixth time in history. Since its inception in 2008, the award has established itself as a benchmark for players born in the football-playing nation.
Neymar celebrates the titles he won at Barcelona in 2014 and 2015, as well as at Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 and 2020. With two more trophies than defender Thiago Silva, who has been crowned the greatest Brazilian player in Europe three times, the ace moved into first place among the award’s top recipients.
The forward played in 46 games in 2021, scoring 17 goals and assisting 17 times. Such figures result in an average contribution in goals of 0.74 in matches between Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazilian side. In addition, he was a member of the French Championship and Copa America’s “perfect team” last year, winning the Coupe de France.
The footballer received 42.77 percent of the votes from fans and media due to his great numbers. Prior to Neymar’s current winning streak of two games in a row, Alisson, the Liverpool goalkeeper, was the last player to win the title in 2019.
In 2021, the Samba Gold Award had a busy year. The surveys, which began on December 15, were intended to choose the best Brazilian to work in any country, not just Europe. The Samba Gold Feminino award was also established to reward the best Brazilian player who works abroad. Giovana Queiroz of Levante was the first winner.
The second and third place
Second place in the Samba Gold 2021 award went to Vincius Junior, who has been flourishing for Real Madrid. With 14.45 percent of the vote, Vini shown that he has improved since joining the Spanish club in 2018. The attacker has already taken control of Spanish newspapers. For example, the traditional newspaper “Marca” predicted that he would be the “new Neymar” towards the end of last year.
Defender Lucas Verissimo got the “bronze medal” in the Samba Gold 2021 award. Coach Tite started calling him up for the Brazilian team on a regular basis last year, just like Vini. And it’s not by chance: after impressing at Santos, the player was signed by Benfica at the start of the year, and he rapidly became the club’s main starter. Lucas was elected with 10.65% of the vote.
Stay tuned next year
Which of these three incredible stars did you choose? Sambafoot will keep you up to date on the latest news from Brazilian expats. As a result, you start thinking about your vote and warming up your finger for the Samba Gold 2022 award.
