The Brazilian Pedro Guilherme became this Wednesday the new ‘King of America”, an award given annually by the Uruguayan newspaper El País to the best player on the continent. Meanwhile, the Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni became the best technical director of 2022.
read also
The 37th edition of the ‘America responds to El País’ survey had the votes of 218 journalists from the continent, of which 68 were for Pedro, Flamengo striker.
The winner of the survey surpassed his teammate Giorgian de Arrascaeta by just four votes and the Argentine Julián Álvarez by 34, who in this way will hand over the crown he won the previous season.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in June 1997, Pedro Guilherme began his career at Fluminense and joined ‘Mengao’ in 2020 after a stint at Italian Fiorentina.
He won the Copa Libertadores and played in the World Cup
In the 2022 season, they won the Brazil Cup after beating Corinthians 6-5 on penalties in the final and the Copa Libertadores after defeating Athletico Paranaense 1-0 in the final.
He also played the World Cup in Qatar with the national team and converted his penalty in the shootout that defined the quarterfinal tie in which Brazil was eliminated by Croatia.
Scaloni, by a landslide
Scaloni, for his part, won the award for best coach after obtaining 107 votes out of 218 votes, beating the Portuguese Abel Ferreira with 35 and the Brazilian Dorival Junior with 28.
Born in the town of Pujato in May 1978, Scaloni began his career at the helm of the Argentine team doing an interim period and was later ratified to hold that position permanently.
After winning the Copa América in 2021 and breaking a 28-year streak without Albiceleste titles, Scaloni guided the team to win the ‘Finalissima’ against Italy and the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
The ‘King of America’ award has been given by the newspaper El País since 1986 and so far the most outstanding footballers have been the Chilean Elías Ricardo Figueroa, the Brazilian Zico and the Argentine Carlos Tévez, who won it three times each one.
