Kopa Trophy: Samuel Chukwueze’s final position unveiled
Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze has missed out on the 2019 Kopa trophy award.
The silverware which was designed for young outstanding players was won by Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt who currently plays for Juventus of Italy at the award ceremony on Monday night, December 2, at the Ballon d’Or at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
The Netherlands international beat Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze and eight others to clinch the prestigious award.
Villarreal youngster Chukwueze was placed joint ninth with Valencia’s South Korea star Lee Kang-in, who claimed the Golden Ball award at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup.
Interestingly, the former Golden Eaglets ace was expected to feature for the Flying Eagles in the tournament in Poland, but opted to play at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles.
Other stars in the top five include Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, Vinicius Junior, and Andriy Lunin.
Arsenal’s Mattéo Guendouzi finished joint sixth with Kai Havertz, while Everton’s Kean was placed eighth in the classification.
20-year-old Matthijs de Ligt wins the Kopa Trophy, being named the best young footballer at the 2019 #BallonDor awards 👏 pic.twitter.com/evAL8Qhpdo
— SuperSport 🏉🏆 (@SuperSportTV) December 2, 2019
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The winner of Kopa Trophy is selected by a panel comprising former winners of the Ballon d’Or, each nominating three players in order of merit from a list of ten youngsters nominated by France Football.
Kopa Trophy final positions:
1 Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands, Ajax Amsterdam, and Juventus)
2 Jadon Sancho (England, Borussia Dortmund);
3 Joao Felix (Portugal, Benfica and Atlético de Madrid)
4 Vinicius Junior (Brazil, Real Madrid)
5 Andriy Lunin (Russia, Leganés, and Valladolid)
6 Mattéo Guendouzi (Arsenal)
6 Kai Havertz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)
8 Moise Kean (Italy, Juventus, and Everton)
9 Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria, Villarreal)
9 Lee Kang-in (South Korea, Valencia)