Felipe Melo named ´Flop of the Year´

Juventus’s Brazilian international defensive midfielder Felipe Melo was on Monday named ‘Flop of the Year 2009’ in a vote parodying the annual ‘Ballon d’Or’ award given to Europe’s top player.

The award was decided via a vote by listeners of the Rai 2 radio programme ‘Catersport’.

Melo, who is likely to be first-choice for Brazil at next summer’s World Cup, joined Juventus from Fiorentina in the close season for a fee of 25 million euros.

After a strong start to the current campaign, his form has faded in recent weeks to the point where he has been jeered by supporters of his own club.

Melo received 22.87 percent of the votes, enabling him to see of challenges from Inter Milan’s reigning ‘Flop of the Year’ Ricardo Quaresma (20.63 percent) and his own Juventus team-mate Tiago (9.99 per cent).

The 26-year-old becomes the third Brazilian to win the dubious honour, after Rivaldo in 2003 and Adriano in 2006 and 2007.

Current Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie won in 2004, with former Italy international striker Christian Vieri picking up the award the year after.