Brazilian teen-ager Neymar was named the best soccer player in South America in the traditional poll published Saturday by the Uruguayan daily newspaper El País.

Neymar, who led Santos to victory in this year’s Copa Liberadores, won 130 votes from the 247 cast by sports journalists from 19 countries who participated in the poll. He won by the largest margin ever in the poll’s 26-year history.

The journalists also voted for their ideal team, which included four Argentinians, three Chileans, two Brazilians and one each from Ecuador and Uruguay.

Nineteen-year-old Neymar came in 60 votes ahead of the second place in the poll, Chilean Eduardo Vargas, from the Universidad de Chile. Paulo Henrique Ganso, a Brazilian also from Santos, came in third.

Xolos wing Egidio Arévalo Ríos, who also plays for Uruguay’s national team, came in fourth place, and center defense Rolando Schiavi, from Argentina, rounded out the top five.

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