The Spain coach selected Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Iker Casillas for the award ahead of winner Leo Messi and runner up Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I picked three Spanish as a general concept of the time that our football is living through, so I named the two captains – Xavi [Hernandez] and [Iker] Casillas – and [Andres] Iniesta, who was the best European player of the year.”