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Barça stars dominate awards

FC Barcelona was the undoubted protagonist of the awards for the 2005-06 Champions League.

All four of the main individual awards were given to Barcelona players, Puyol was the best defender, Deco the best midfielder and Eto’o the best striker, while the best player of the whole tournament was Ronaldinho. Incredible recognition of Barça’s supremacy in the competition.

Ronaldinho recognised by his peers

The FIFPro association, which groups more than 42,000 footballers around the world, named Ronaldinho as its players of the year for the second year running. Ronaldinho was joined by Eto'o, Thuram and Zambrotta in the FIFPro ideal XI. These awards were first presented in 2005 and are particularly appreciated because it is the players themselves who vote. It also gave a prize to Leo Messi as the best newcomer, plus a Peace price to the club in general and a special Merit award to Eto’o for his work against racism.

Samuel Eto'o wins the ‘Pichichi'

Samuel Eto'o received the Pichichi award for being the top scorer in the Spanish league. He scored 26 goals last season, and collected his award from Marca newspaper at the Campo de las Naciones golf course in Madrid. The Cameroonian had finished second in the goalscoring lists in the 2004-05 season, and this was the first time he had won the top prize.

Rijkaard, best coach in the world

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) named Frank Rijkaard as the coach of the year in 2006. In a gala held in Salzburg, Austria, the IFFHS also named Ronaldinho, as the ‘Best playmaker’ of 2006.