SOUTH AMERICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
This award begun in 1971.From 1971 to 1985 it was awarded by Venezuelan newspaper El Mundo. From 1986 onwards it has been awarded by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais. It is open only to South American players of South American clubs. The results in 1999 are:
| RANK | NAME | NATIONALITY |
VOTES |
| 1 | Javier Saviola | Argentina | 55 |
| 2 | Francisco Arce | Paraguay | 45 |
| 3 | Juan Roman Riquelme | Argentina | 42 |
| 4 | Jose Luis Chilavert | Paraguay | 36 |
| 5 | Ivan Cordoba | Colombia | 33 |
| 6 | Alex | Brazil | 28 |
| 7 | Pablo Aimar | Argentina | 27 |
| 8 | Vampeta | Brazil | 23 |
| 9 | Freddy Rincon | Colombia | 22 |
| Ronaldinho | Brazil | 22 | |
| Walter Samuel | Argentina | 22 |
Javier Saviola, the 17 year old forward who helped River Plate to the league title as top goalscorer, won the award beating Francisco Arce and Juan Roman Riquelme. Previous winners of the award are:
| YEAR | NAME | NATIONALITY |
| 1971 | Tostao | Brazil |
| 1972 | Teofilo Cubillas | Peru |
| 1973 | Pele | Brazil |
| 1974 | Elias Figueroa | Chile |
| 1975 | Elias Figueroa | Chile |
| 1976 | Elias Figueroa | Chile |
| 1977 | Zico | Brazil |
| 1978 | Mario Kempes | Argentina |
| 1979 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
| 1980 | Diego Maradona | Argentina |
| 1981 | Zico | Brazil |
| 1982 | Zico | Brazil |
| 1983 | Socrates | Brazil |
| 1984 | Enzo Francescoli | Uruguay |
| 1985 | Julio Cesar Romero | Paraguay |
| 1986 | Antonio Alzamendi | Uruguay |
| 1987 | Carlos Valderrama | Colombia |
| 1988 | Ruben Paz | Uruguay |
| 1989 | Bebeto | Brazil |
| 1990 | Raul Amarilla | Paraguay |
| 1991 | Oscar Ruggeri | Argentina |
| 1992 | Rai | Brazil |
| 1993 | Carlos Valderrama | Colombia |
| 1994 | Cafu | Brazil |
| 1995 | Enzo Francescoli | Uruguay |
| 1996 | Jose Luis Chilavert | Paraguay |
| 1997 | Marcelo Salas | Chile |
| 1998 | Martin Palermo | Argentina |
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