After a year of near misses, Antoine Griezmann has ended 2016 by finally getting his hands on some silverware after winning France’s player of the year award for the first time.
Griezmann, 25, has been voted French Player of the Year 2016, France Football announced on Monday.
The Atletico Madrid player succeeds Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi to become the 59th winner of the award.
Beating the likes of Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema to the France Football award, the former Real Sociedad joins illustrious names such as Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery in picking up the gong.
Griezmann has spent the year as the bridesmaid but never the bride, as Atletico finished runners-up in the Champions League after being beaten on penalties by rivals Real Madrid.
He was also part of the France team who were losing finalists to Portugal in Euro 2016, in which he was voted the best player and was also top scorer.
In the Ballon D’Or, he finished third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and has also seen his Atletico team endure a poor first half to the current La Liga season as they languish in sixth place, nine points behind leaders Real.
However, for Griezmann it has personally been an excellent year, as he has established himself as one of the best strikers in the world, along with the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
He has scored 36 goals the calendar year in just 66 games for club and country.
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