The2012South American Footballer of the Year, given to the best football player in South America by Uruguayan newspaperEl País through voting by journalists across the continent, was awarded toNeymar ofSantos on December 31, 2012.^[1]

Neymar became the first player sinceJuan Sebastián Verón in 2008 (and later in 2009) to repeat the award.

Rank	Player	Nationality	Club	Points
1	Neymar	Brazil	Santos	199
2	Paolo Guerrero	Peru	Corinthians	50
3	Lucas	Brazil	São Paulo	21
4	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Atlético Mineiro	12
5	Fred	Brazil	Fluminense	6
6	Juan Román Riquelme	Argentina	Boca Juniors	5
7	Emerson	Qatar	Corinthians	2
8	Andrés D'Alessandro	Argentina	Internacional	1
	Teófilo Gutiérrez	Colombia	Atlético Junior	1

General

• "Selección Ideal de América" [The best eleven of America].El País. December 31, 2012. Archived fromthe original on March 6, 2013. RetrievedApril 7, 2013.

Specific

• South American Footballer of the Year winners
• 2012 in South American football