It may already be May, but awards season isn’t quite over just yet. The 2016 FutsalPlanet Awards were announced over the weekend, with some familiar faces in the winner’s circle. Headlining them all were Ricardinho, the Portuguese virtuoso who took home his fourth World’s Best Player Award and Amandinha, who won World’s Best Woman Player for the third straight year.
For Ricardinho, the win comes on the heels of a European Championship victory from his Movistar Inter squad. Not a bad weekend for O Mágico. As for the other awards, there are both familiar and new names, with a common theme of Russia being a runner-up (sorry Greg).
Check out some highlights from the winners below. For the full list, click here.
World’s Best Player: Ricardo Filipe da Silva Barga aka Ricardinho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgM8_2v4ZXg
They call him “The Magician.” With a bevy of moves and unmatched creativity, Ricardinho is truly spellbinding on the futsal pitch. While few come close, none match the pure talent and skill of Ricardinho, and that was reinforced with his third straight and fourth overall World’s Best Player Award win.
Ricardinho won the award over Miguelin of Mexico and Leandro Cuzzolino of Argentina.
World’s Best Woman Player: Amanda Lyssa de Oliveira Crisostomo aka Amandinha
As dominant as Ricardinho is on the men’s side, Amandinha has been a clear standout on the women’s side. The Brazilian took home her third straight World’s Best Award and has become an absolutely dominant force in futsal. Maybe speaking Portuguese is the key to being a world-class futsaler?
Amandinha beat out fellow Brazilian Ari and Spaniard Peque for the top spot.
Best Young Player: Adolfo Fernández Díaz aka Adolfito
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wd0hjAXrf4
Twenty-three-year-old Spaniard Adolfito has been balling with the big boys since he was 16. A two-way threat, Adolfito not only has unrivaled speed on offense, but is a solid defender as well. Sticking with the three-peat theme, Adolfito takes home the award for the third straight year.
Adolfito, who has been called “the Messi of futsal,” corralled the youngsters award over Ivan Chishkala of Russia and Leandro Lino dos Santos of Brazil.
Best National Team: Argentina
The 2016 Futsal World Cup Champions unsurprisingly took home the Best National Team Award. Led by World’s Best Player third place finisher Cuzzolino, the Argentines were able to edge Russia 5-4 in the finals.
More recently, Argentina finished second in the Copa America for which they played host. Runners-up for the award included Spain in second place and Russia in third.
Best Club: Movistar Inter FS (Spain)
Movistar Inter was able to secure its record fourth UEFA Futsal Cup with a dominant 7-0 victory over Portugal’s Sporting CP. Ricardinho scored four times as Movistar Inter cruised to victory in its first Futsal Cup Championship since 2009.
Runners-up included Russia’s Gazprom Ugra in second place and Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty in third.
