Cruzeiro outshines Flamengo in Bola de Prata 2025 selection; see the winners

Flamengo won the Brasileirão, but it was Cruzeiro that placed more players in ESPN’s Bola de Prata selection — an award given to the best players of the competition. The announcement of the winners was made early Monday afternoon (8). Bola de Prata Selection The 2025 Bola de Prata selection consists of: Walter; Paulo Henrique, Léo Pereira, Fabrício Bruno, and Reinaldo; Lucas Romero, Matheus Pereira, and De Arrascaeta; Kaio Jorge, Vitor Roque, and Pedro. The lineup chosen for the ideal team of the league was the traditional 4-3-3 formation. Cruzeiro, the 3rd-placed team, had the most players in the selection: 4. The champion, Flamengo, had three names on the list — none of the Flamengo players were present in the awards due to the Intercontinental competition. In total, five teams had representatives in the awards among men. Besides the champion, Mirassol, Vasco, Palmeiras, and Cruzeiro also had players featured in the Brazilian league selection. Rafael Guanaes from Mirassol was voted the best coach. Mirassol finished the competition with 67 points, in 4th place, and secured a spot in next year’s Copa Libertadores group stage. The determination of the elected names was based on a combination of opinion and statistics. The network’s journalists awarded players scores from 0 to 10, with a weight of 60% for the total prize score. The remaining 40% was determined through DataESPN, an algorithm developed to analyze the athletes’ performance throughout the competition. Check out the Bola de Prata 2025 selection Goalkeeper: Walter (Mirassol) Left-back: Reinaldo (Mirassol) Center-back: Léo Pereira (Flamengo) Center-back: Fabrício Bruno (Cruzeiro) Right-back: Paulo Henrique (Vasco) Midfielder: Lucas Romero (Cruzeiro) Midfielder: Matheus Pereira (Cruzeiro) Attacking midfielder: De Arrascaeta (Flamengo) Forward: Kaio Jorge (Cruzeiro) Forward: Pedro (Flamengo) Forward: Vitor Roque (Palmeiras) Coach: Rafael Guanaes (Mirassol) Other awards Golden Ball: Arrascaeta outshined competitors Vitor Roque from Palmeiras and Kaio Jorge from Cruzeiro, winning the Golden Ball award for the best player of the competition.