A record 5.3 million votes were cast in selecting the UEFA.com users’ Team of the Year 2012, a 20 per cent increase on 12 months ago.
Just like when world football governing body, FIFA, released its Team of 2012, no player from the English Premier League made the list.
Again, just like the FIFA 2012, the UEFA users’ team is filled with players from Real Madrid and Barcelona who have four players each. AC Milan of Italy, Bayern Munich of Germany, and Juventus of Italy each have one player in the selection. This is the third consecutive time that La Liga will have eight players in the list, but the first time that the Premier League will be completely absent.
Barcelona playmaker, Xavi who appears both in the UEFA and FIFA teams of 2012 described his selection by UEFA.com users as a ‘honour.’
Mesut Ozil (24) of Real Madrid (youngest in the list), Thiago Silva of PSG, and Andrea Pirlo (33) of Juventus (oldest in the list) all make their debut in the UEFA users team of the year.
The 5.3 million votes were cast by nearly half a million users, both records, surpassing 2010 when 400,000 users made 5 million selections. UEFA also said some 50,000 of this year’s picks were made directly via the official UEFA Champions League Twitter page, an option available for the first time.
The next step will see one member of the team receive a €100,000 cheque from UEFA which he will donate to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
UEFA.com users’ Team of the Year 2012
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF & Spain), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF & Spain), Gerard Piqué (FC Barcelona & Spain), Thiago Silva (AC Milan/Paris Saint-Germain FC), Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München & Germany), Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona & Spain), Xavi Hernández (FC Barcelona & Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus & Italy), Mesut Özil (Real Madrid CF & Germany), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF & Portugal)
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