The "Samba Gold" (Samba d'Or) is a football award given to the best

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian footballer in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, as awarded by Sambafoot. The inaugural award was made in 2008. The Samba Gold is determined by three voter panels: journalists, fellow footballers and votes from Sambafoot's online readers. In 2021, for the first time women were also selected for the award.

History

* In 2008, the inaugural winner was

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

midfielder Kaká. Manchester City's

Robinho Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002 ...

and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

Luís Fabiano Luís Fabiano Clemente (born 8 November 1980), commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for Sevilla, São Paulo, and the Brazil national team. He is a prolific goals ...

placed second and third in voting, respectively. There were thirty nominations, and voting took place from 1 to 30 December. Kaká obtained 25.03% of the vote, with 14.34% for Robinho and 13.65% for Fabiano. * In 2009, Luís Fabiano (20.91%) of Sevilla won the trophy ahead of Júlio César (17.58%) and Kaká (16.35%). * In 2010, the prize was awarded to Maicon (12.60%) from

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

running ahead of

Hernanes Anderson Hernanes de Carvalho Viana Lima (born 29 May 1985), known as Hernanes (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a central or attacking midfielder. Hernanes began his career with São Paulo, where he won the Ca ...

(10.76%) and

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional Association Football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and captains the Brazil national football team, Brazil national team. Con ...

(9.56%). * In 2011, Milan defender Thiago Silva (16.33%) won the award ahead of

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(15.56%) and Hulk from

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

(14.41%). * In 2012, the list of thirty candidates was announced on 26 November.

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

defender Thiago Silva (17.70%) was awarded the 2012 Samba Gold on 31 December, edging out

Ramires Ramires Santos do Nascimento (; born 24 March 1987), known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-b ...

(17.04%) and Willian (10.19%). * In 2013, Thiago Silva won for a third consecutive year, beating out

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

in second and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

in third. * In 2014,

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned ...

won the award for the first time, receiving a record percentage of votes (29.20%). * In 2015, Neymar won the award for a second consecutive year, surpassing the record percentage of votes he received the year prior (37.87%). * In 2016,

Philippe Coutinho Philippe Coutinho Correia (born 12 June 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Brazil national team. He is known for his combination of vision, ...

won the award for the first time, ending Neymar's two year reign. * In 2017, Neymar won the award for the third time in four years. * In 2018,

Roberto Firmino Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira (born 2 October 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for club Liverpool and the Brazil national team. After starting his career with Figueirense in ...

won the award for the first time. * In 2019,

Alisson Becker Álisson Ramsés Becker (born 2 October 1992), known as Alisson Becker or simply Alisson, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Liverpool and the Brazil national team. He is widely regarded to ...

won the award for the first time, and became the first goalkeeper to win the award. * In 2020, Neymar won the award for a record fourth time. *In 2021, Neymar won the fifth award.

Gio Queiroz Giovana Queiroz Costa (born 21 June 2003), known as Gio Queiroz or simply Gio, and sometimes Giovana Costa, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for English Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Brazil women's ...

won the first women's award.

Winners

Men's football

Source:

Women's football

References

{{Samba Gold European football trophies and awards Association football trophies and awards Awards established in 2008