C. Tevez elected best in South America © EuroFootball.com

For the third year in a row, the best player in South America was recognized as Argentina's national team and Sao Paulo forward Carlos Tevez.

The Uruguayan newspaper "El Pais" conducted a survey of two hundred South American journalists, in which C. Tevez came out on top.

The forward became the first player to win this title three times. So far, he shared the record with Colombian legend Carlos Valderrama, who won in 1987 and 1993.

The 21-year-old forward has recently been closely followed by clubs such as Eindhoven's PSV, Munich's Bayern, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Manchester United. It is also rumored that the Corinthians-owned company, closely related to Chelsea's owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, could see the Argentine move to the English champions club.

After C. Tevez, three other players from the Brazilian capital's team Sao Paulo were ranked: Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, new Real Madrid signing right-back Cicinho, and goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni.