With the European seasons shutting down one by one, and the Clausura with just another month-and-a-bit to run, we (I mean, ‘me’) at Hasta Lo Gol Siempre thought it would be nice to hand out some awards. And your help is needed.
The awards for the domestic campaign will, of course, be announced when it’s finished, but there’s also a very special award which I’m inviting you now to nominate candidates for. It’s the HLGS award for Best Performance By An Argentine Playing Abroad.
The award is for a performance over the course of the season (rather than a given match), and is going to be decided by our readers. So if you think Pablo Sorín’s been as swashbuckling as ever since his move to Hamburg, let us know. Perhaps you reckon Julio Arca has been criminally ignored by me for his performances with Middlesbrough.
Diego Milito’s in the running for the Spanish Pichichi (top scorer award) and his brother Gabriel has been solid in defence, both for Zaragoza, whilst Roberto Abbondanzieri at Getafe and Leo Franco at Atlético Madrid are fighting each other for the Zamora (best goalkeeper). Lionel Messi’s kept an at times frankly rubbish Barcelona in with a shot of the title, with a hat-trick against Madrid among other league performances, as well as scoring the goal of the century so far in the Copa del Rey. In Italy, Hernán Crespo, Julio Cruz, Esteban Cambiasso and, um, Walter Samuel are among the Argentines who’ve played their parts in Inter finally managing to win Serie A properly. Gabriel Heinze’s been underused but is now a champion of England with Manchester United. And then of course there’s Carlos Tevez, who single-handedly kept West Ham in the Premiership (and perhaps more importantly for some, sent Neill Warnock down).
Undoubtedly I’ve missed someone. That’s why these nominations are entirely up to you. The only rules are that the player must have played the whole European season for their current club (Higuain and Gago aren’t eligible - neither is Mascherano, who switched from West Ham to Liverpool in January), and Argentines who’ve chosen to represent other countries (David Trezeguet, Mauro Camoranesi, Guille Franco…) are out. Though why you’d want to vote for those three anyway I’m not sure.
Nominations (only nominate one player, please) must be emailed to hastalogolsiempre@hotmail.co.uk. In a week and a bit, following the 16th round of Clausura matches, the five most popular nominees will be listed, the tallies of each wiped clean, and you’ll be asked to vote for your final choice.
Nominations will close at 12 midnight (British Summer Time) on the night of Sunday, 27th May.
Filed under: Argentine football, Argentine national team, Argentines abroad, Carlos Tevez, Football, Football awards, Football clubs, Hasta Lo Gol Siempre, International football, Lionel Messi, Players, Selección
