Gourcuff awarded Ligue 1 accolades
Sunday, May 24, 2009
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FC Girondins de Bordeaux midfielder Yoann Gourcuff has been voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year for 2008/09 by his peers and also won the Goal of the Season prize, with Olympique de Marseille's Erik Gerets named Best Coach.
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FC Girondins de Bordeaux and France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff has been voted Ligue 1 Player of the Year for 2008/09 by his peers.
Goal award
On loan at Ligue 1 leaders Bordeaux from AC Milan, the 22-year-old topped a shortlist that also included Michel Bastos (LOSC Lille Métropole), Stéphane Sessegnon (Paris Saint-Germain FC) and Ligue 1 top scorer André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse FC). Gourcuff also received the trophy for Goal of the Season, with fans electing his effort against PSG on 11 January as the standout strike of the campaign.
Gerets prize
"This is a great honour," said the playmaker, capped nine times by Les Bleus trainer Raymond Domenech. "I want to thank my coach Laurent Blanc, who brought me to Bordeaux, and the whole squad, which has such a great spirit." Olympique de Marseille's Erik Gerets took the award for Coach of the Year, while Lyon's Hugo Lloris collected the goalkeeping honours and Lille's Eden Hazard was named Young Player of the Year.