Mamelodi Sundowns star Lucas Ribeiro stunned global football stars including Lionel Messi and Jamal Musial to claim FIFA Club World Cup top honour.
The Brazilian star was one of the standout performers for Masandawana in the global club tournament held in the United States.
While he provided an assist in the first game against Ulsan HD, he also scored a wonder goal against Borussia Dortmund in the group stages.
Ribeiro orchestrated a moment of individual brilliance, picking up the ball deep in his own half. He then covered an incredible 67 yards, weaving past two Borussia Dortmund defenders before calmly slotting it past an outstretched Gregor Kobel.
Ribeiro's exquisite goal opened the scoring in a thrilling group stage encounter that saw a total of seven goals. Borussia Dortmund ultimately prevailed with a 4-3 victory in one of the tournament's most exciting matches.
After a week of social media voting, the outcome was decisive. Ribeiro's spectacular effort for Bafana Ba Style against the Bundesliga giants was the runaway winner, garnering over 40,000 votes to claim the coveted award.
WHAT RIBEIRO SAID AFTER SCORING WONDER GOAL AGAINST DORTMUND
“I am always confident. I'm very happy to have scored the goal,” said Ribeiro. “The moment I turned with the ball, I said, ‘OK, let me go, let me put the ball in the space.' I'm happy with the goal, but the most important thing is that the team played well.”
“I have good speed,” he added, “but not normally over a long distance. This was the difference for me scoring this goal.”
Meanwhile, following an impressive season locally with Sundowns, Ribeiro's contributions have been recognised with three nominations at the PSL awards, scheduled for Tuesday, 29 July.
He’s nominated for PSL Footballer of the Season, Betway Premiership Player’s Player of the Season and Betway Premiership Goal of the Season.
