This Monday afternoon, the Madrid-based daily Marca awarded the Pichichi and Zamora trophies to Leo Messi and Víctor Valdés, respectively. The Blaugrana keeper, who now has five Zamora titles, dedicated his most recent trophy to his teammates and the ex-Barça keeper Antoni Ramallets, who also won five Zamoras: “I’m receiving the award, but it belongs to my teammates who helped me win it. This is my fifth, and I want to remember Ramallets. He is more than a legend, and he also won five Zamoras over the course of his career.”
Ramallets praises Valdés
Despite not being able to attend, the legendary FC Barcelona keeper form the 1950s praised Valdés in a pre-recorded video message: “I’m very sorry I cannot be there with you to celebrate your fifth Zamora trophy. I hope you enjoy this honour, and remember you have more years ahead of you to win many more.”
Ramallets also had words of praise for Alfredo Di Stéfano: “I want to take advantage of this opportunity to send my greetings to Alfredo Di Stéfano, who’s worthy of so many awards. He was a great footballer and a great friend.”
Club director and spokesperson Toni Freixa received the 2011/12 Pichichi award on Leo Messi’s behalf during the award ceremony, which was held in Madrid. Marca also gave out awards to Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, Roberto Soldado and Iago Aspas, among others.
