December 21, 2020 - Nikola Vlasic has been named the footballer of the year in Russia in the country's largest sports selection, divided into four categories.
Index.hr reports that the winner is decided by the votes of the 16 most prominent Russian coaches, 16 most distinguished sports directors and managers, 16 journalists of the most prestigious Russian sports portal, Sport Express, and readers of the same portal.
This is the greatest individual achievement for the Croatian footballer in his career so far.
The last Croatian to receive a similar award in a European league is Darijo Srna, who was awarded by Ukraine in 2010 while playing for Shakhtar.
Vlasic defeated all players from the Russian league and all Russians who play abroad, who were also nominated in this election.
The Croatian midfielder was chosen as the best in the opinion of coaches, sports directors, journalists, and spectators, i.e., in all four categories. Vlasic won with 251 points, Alexei Miranchuk came in second with 113, and Roman Zobnin came in third with 106 points.
CSKA Moscow, Vlasic's club, isn't having the best year. After finishing fourth in the championship in the 2019-20 season, they had an awful Europa League campaign, finishing last in the group with Dinamo Zagreb, Wolfsberger, and Feyenoord. But maybe there is some hope, as they are going into the winter break as the second-best team in the standings.
Despite poor results, Vlasic shined enough to win this prestigious Russian sports award.
At the moment, Vlasic is the fourth top scorer in the league with eight goals. The first in the standings are Džjuba and Azmoun, who have only three more goals. When it comes to assists, however, Vlasic is the first in the league with five.
A big congrats to the former Hajduk Split player who has also become a standard in Croatia's starting 11 this year!
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