King of America: Two players from Fluminense, the reinforcement of Suarez and Flamengo are the finalists soccer

On Thursday, the finalists for the King of America Award, organized by the Uruguayan newspaper El País, were announced. John Arias that it German Canofrom Fluminense, Luis Suarezfrom Gremio, and De la CruzThe former River Plate and Flamengo players are competing for the continent's best player award in 2023.

The competition is between coaches Abel Ferreira from Palmeiras, Fernando Diniz from Florence and the Brazilian national team. Winners will be announced on Sunday 31st.

Arias and Cano led Flou to an unprecedented Libertadores title and the Club World Cup. The Colombian scored 12 goals and provided 17 assists in 61 matches. The Argentine, in turn, was the top scorer in Brazilian football and the continental championship. In total, the striker scored 40 goals in 61 matches.

Luisito Suarez has impressed for Gremio in 2023. He was one of those responsible for leading Tricolor to second place in the Brazilian League and to the semi-finals of the Brazilian Cup, as well as the Gauchao and Recopa Gaucha titles. There were 29 goals on 17 passes scored by his teammates. Pistolero will play for Inter Miami next year.

Finally, de la Cruz closes the list of candidates for the main award in South American football. The Uruguayan was River Plate's standout star this season and helped the team win the Argentine Championship. It is no surprise that Flamengo bought him for approximately R$80 million.

The selection of the best coach on the continent also includes representatives of Brazilian football. The candidates include Abel Ferreira of Palmeiras, Fernando Diniz of Fluminense, Luiz Zubeldia of LDU, Lionel Scaloni of the Argentina national team, and Marcelo Bielsa of the Uruguay national team.

Abel was the Brazilian champion with Palmeiras, while Diniz won the Libertadores title with Fluminense and is the current captain of the Brazilian national team. Scaloni took the brothers to the world triathlon. Zubeldía won the South American Championship with LDU. Bielsa is doing a good job of restructuring the Celeste.

The finalists were selected by 250 sports journalists who worked actively throughout the season, between January 1 and December. The results will be announced on Sunday 31st.

Brazilian players have won the King of America title in 11 of the award's 37 editions: Bebeto (1989), Rai (1992), Cafu (1994), Romario (2000), Neymar (2011 and 2012), Ronaldinho Gaucho (2013). Luan (2017), Gabigol (2019), Marineho (2020), and Pedro (2022). Tevez is the biggest winner of the titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005.