Diego Milito named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year as Inter Milan complete clean sweep
Inter Milan striker Diego Milito was today named as UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.
The forward completed a clean sweep of awards for the club at the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage in Monaco after he took the striker award ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.
The Champions League holders’ Julio Cesar was named UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year ahead of Hugo Lloris of Olympique Lyonnais and Victor Valdes of Barcelona.
Beat team-mates to awards
Inter’s right-back Maicon was named defender of the year ahead of team-mate Lucio and Gerard Pique of Barca, while Wesley Sneijder was given the midfielder award ahead of his Holland international team-mate Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich and Barcelona’s Xavi.
Inter had a hugely successful 2009-10 season which saw them pick up three trophies under then manager Jose Mourinho. The 31-year-old Milito had scored several crucial goals in Europe’s top club competition, including both goals in the 2-0 win in the final over Bayern as he helped his club become European champions for the first time in 45 years.
Maicon played a huge part in Inter’s treble season as his defensive rigidity coupled with his dangerous surges forward caused opposition teams no end of problems. He also scored his first Champions League goal against Barcelona in the knockout stages of the competition.
Sneijder was arguably the main driving force behind Inter’s successes last season after making the switch from Real Madrid last summer. His ability to pick out passes with pinpoint accuracy and score from long-range earned him the nickname of ‘The Sniper’ by the Italian media. His eight goals in all competitions last term do not tell the entire story of his superb season, however. His assists were crucial in helping Inter to the Champions League title as he set up Milito for the opening goal in the final.
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