River Plate's Carlos Sanchez named as El Pais' Best Player of the Americas
For the first time in 20 years, a Uruguayan footballer is being recognised by El Pais as the Americas' top footballer.
On Wednesday, El Pais, a newspaper based in Montevideo, Uruguay, named Carlos Sanchez of River Plate as the Best Player of the Americas for 2015, marking the first time a player from the tiny South American country has won the award since Enzo Francescoli did so in 1995.
The winner of the prestigious award was determined by a poll in which 426 journalists participated, and Sanchez, who accumulated 182 votes, beat out Carlos Tevez of Boca Juniors and Miller Bolanos of Emelec en route to capturing the honour. Tevez and Bolanos tallied, respectively, 61 votes and 23 votes.
Upon hearing the news, Sanchez took to Twitter and published a photo of El Pais' cover from New Year's Eve in which he can be seen representing River Plate.
Buen día! Muchisimas gracias a @Ovaciondigital y a los periodistas de #América por ponerme en este lugar! pic.twitter.com/G4nRIckY7s
— Carlos Sanchez (@patosanz_20) December 31, 2015
Sanchez's presence on the right side of the pitch was the engine behind River Plate capturing its third Copa Libertadores title and qualifying for the Club World Cup, where the club fell to Barcelona in the final.
The Uruguayan's time at River Plate is over, however, as he will be joining Monterrey in 2016 to embark on the next chapter of a promising career.
- With h/t to ESPN FC