David Alaba has been named Austrian Player of the Year for the fifth time in a row. The 23-year-old retained the title by a large margin. The Player of the Year poll is conducted by news service Austria Presse Agentur (APA) among the ten head coaches in the Austrian Bundesliga. “It's a great honour for me,” commented Alaba, who is currently sidelined. He won the poll ahead of Dinamo Kyiv's Aleksandar Dragovic, Marko Arnautovic (Stoke City) and Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen).
“I'm very pleased. David has earned this accolade. He's an extraordinary footballer. He has everything a world-class player needs: great talent, passion, the ambition to get even better, and lots of experience, which is incredible for his age,” Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in praise of the Bayern all-rounder. “David is a worthy 'record Player of the Year' for Austria.”
With five triumphs Alaba is now top of the all-time roll of honour, ahead of four-time winner Ivica Vastic. Alaba won the German championship with FCB and advanced to the semi-finals in the Champions League and the DFB Cup last season. “And David was an essential factor in Austria qualifying for a big tournament after a long absence,” added Rummenigge. Alaba and his team-mates take on Portugal, Iceland and Hungary in their EURO 2016 group.
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