Samba Gold
The "Samba Gold" is a football award given to the best Brazilian footballer in Europe, 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, a women's award was added for the first time, the women's award is given to the best Brazilian footballer in Brazil or abroad. An award for players aged 20 and under was added in 2022.
History
- In 2008, the inaugural winner was Milan midfielder Kaká. Manchester [City F.C.|Manchester City]'s Robinho and Sevilla's Luís Fabiano 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 of Sevilla won the trophy, ahead of Júlio César and Kaká.
- In 2010, the prize was awarded to Maicon from Inter Milan, ahead of Hernanes and Thiago Silva.
- In 2011, Milan defender Thiago Silva won the award, ahead of Dani Alves from Barcelona and Hulk from Porto.
- In 2012, the list of thirty candidates was announced on 26 November. Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva was awarded the 2012 Samba Gold on 31 December, edging out Ramires and Willian.
- In 2013, Thiago Silva won for a third consecutive year, beating out Dante in second and Oscar in third.
- In 2014, Neymar won the award for the first time, receiving a record percentage of votes.
- In 2015, Neymar won the award for a second consecutive year, surpassing the record percentage of votes he received the year prior.
- In 2016, Philippe Coutinho 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 won the award for the first time.
- In 2019, Alisson won the award for the first time, becoming the first goalkeeper to win the award.
- In 2020, Neymar won the award for a record fourth time.
- In 2021, Neymar won the award for a second consecutive and record-extending fifth time. Giovana Queiroz won the inaugural women's award.
- In 2022, Neymar won the award for a third consecutive and record-extending sixth time. Debinha won the women's award, while Endrick was voted winner of the inaugural under-20 award.
- In 2023, Vinícius Júnior won the award for the first time, ending Neymar's three year reign. Tamires won the women's award, while Marcos Leonardo won the under-20 award.
Winners