The Portuguese Golden Ball (known in Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 as A Bola de Ouro) is an annual award given, by Portuguese newspaper A Bola

A Bola

A Bola is a Portuguese sports newspaper, published in Lisbon. It was founded in 1945 by Cândido de Oliveira and Ribeiro dos Reis, and was then published twice a week. It became a daily newspaper in 1995....

, to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in the Primeira Liga. The first winner of the award was Eusébio

Eusébio

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...

, in 1991. It was a career award but since then the award was given to the best player in the league.

Winners

The award has been presented on 12 occasions as of 2010, with 9 different winners. Between 2001 and 2008 the Portuguese Golden Ball was not awarded.

1991-2000

Year	Winner	Country	Club	Position	Sources	Notes
1991	Eusébio Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...		Retired	Forward

}
|- style="background:#EEEEFF"
| align="center"|1992 || Vítor Baía

Vítor Baía

Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His career was intimately connected with F.C...

 || || FC Porto || Goalkeeper ||align="center"| ||
|-
| align="center"|1993 || João Pinto

João Vieira Pinto

João Manuel Vieira Pinto is a retired Portuguese footballer who played mostly as a forward.Blessed with formidable skills and scoring ability, he made his name mostly at a domestic level and as a key figure in the Portuguese national team's "Golden Generation", collecting 138 caps and scoring 35...

 || || SL Benfica || Forward || align="center"| ||
|- style="background:#EEEEFF"
| align="center"|1994 || Luís Figo

Luís Figo

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009...

 || || Sporting CP || Midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 || align="center"| ||
|-
| align="center"|1995 || Domingos || || FC Porto || Forward || align="center"| ||
|- style="background:#EEEEFF"
| align="center"|1996 || João Pinto

João Vieira Pinto

João Manuel Vieira Pinto is a retired Portuguese footballer who played mostly as a forward.Blessed with formidable skills and scoring ability, he made his name mostly at a domestic level and as a key figure in the Portuguese national team's "Golden Generation", collecting 138 caps and scoring 35...

 || || SL Benfica || Forward || align="center"| ||
|-
| align="center"|1997 || Mário Jardel

Mário Jardel

Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro is a former Brazilian professional footballer.Jardel was most noted for his positioning on the field and "being at the right place, at the right time"...

 || || FC Porto || Forward || align="center"| ||
|- style="background:#EEEEFF"
| align="center"|1998 || Mário Jardel

Mário Jardel

Mário Jardel de Almeida Ribeiro is a former Brazilian professional footballer.Jardel was most noted for his positioning on the field and "being at the right place, at the right time"...

 || || FC Porto || Forward || align="center"| ||
|-
| align="center"|1999 || align="center"| - || align="center"| - || align="center"| - || align="center"| - || align="center"| || align="center"|
|- style="background:#EEEEFF"
| align="center"|2000 || Jorge Costa

Jorge Costa

Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida , known as Costa, is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played as a central defender, and a current manager....

 || || FC Porto ||Defender

Defender (association football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 || align="center"| ||
|}

2009-present

Year	Winner	Country	Club	Position	Sources	Notes
2009	Lucho González		FC Porto	Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
2010	Javier Saviola Javier Saviola Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, as a striker....		SL Benfica	Forward

See also

• CNID Footballer of the Year
• SJPF Player of the Month
  SJPF Player of the Month
  The SJPF Player of the Month is an association football award that recognizes the best Portuguese League player each month of the season and is conceived by the SJPF...
  
  
• LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year
  LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year
  The Portuguese League for Professional Football Primeira Liga Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in Primeira Liga...
  
  

External links

• "A Bola" official website