Welcome to the World Cup of Sportspeople! With the Women's Football World Cup in full swing just finished and the Men's World Cup being a resounding success last year, we'll be following on with a tournament, not of countries, but of the sports-men and women themselves. This contest is designed to select the greatest sportspeople from each continent through a number of rounds, selecting the best of the best, and pitting them together to show who we really think is the best sportsperson of them all!

This is the Voting stage for South America. We received 67 different nominations in all - taking away our auto-qualifier, Lionel Messi, this gives us two groups of 33 players. Here's how this stage is going to work.

- You can vote for up to 20 sportspeople, but you must vote for at least 10.
- You must rank your votes in order of preference, either by numbering or by the standard Buzzjack +20, +19 ... +1 (Or down to however many you vote for)
- You must vote for sportspeople from at least three different sports
- You must vote for at least one male and one female sportsperson.
- Each sportsperson has been given a short description of their major achievements to make it easier for you to make up your mind.
- The seven sportspeople with the most votes in each group will advance to the Final, and the rest of the Top 10 will advance through to the Intercontinental Playoffs. Everyone else will be booted out.

Eider Arevalo (Colombia - Athletics - Won 2017 World Championship gold, won 11 various racewalking races)
Bebeto (Brazil - Football - Sixth highest goalscorer for Brazil, helped Brazil win the 1994 World Cup)
Helio Castroneves (Brazil - Motor Racing - 24 IndyCar wins, 6 Champ Car wins)
Luis Fernando Lopez (Colombia - Athletics - 2011 World Championship gold, 2009 Bolivarian gold)
Jose Froilan Gonzalez (Argentina - Motor Racing - Two Grand Prix wins, won 24 Hours of Le Mans once)
Garrincha (Brazil - Football - Led Brazil to 1962 World Cup victory, first player to win the Golden Boot, Golden Ball and World Cup in the same tournament)
Gaston Gaudio (Argentina - Tennis - Won 2004 French Open, 8 career titles)
Andres Gomez (Ecuador - Tennis - Won French Open in 1990, 21 career titles)
Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina - Football - Won La Liga 3 times and Serie A twice, won Europa League with Chelsea, most goals in a Serie A season)
Rene Higuita (Colombia - Football - Helped Colombia to 1990 World Cup Round of 16, won Colombian League twice)
Caterine Ibarguen (Colombia - Athletics - 2016 Olympic gold, two World Championship golds)
Maria Isabel Urrutia (Colombia - Weightlifting - Won 2000 Olympic gold, three South American Games golds)
Mario Kempes (Argentina - Football - Won 1978 World Cup with Argentina and won Golden Boot and Golden Ball)
Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay - Football - Won 12 club titles, won World's Best Goalkeeper three times)
Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentina - Motor Racing - Won 5 championships, 24 Grand Prix wins)
Diego Maradona (Argentina - Football - Led Argentina to 1986 World Cup victory and won Golden Ball)
Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina - Tennis - Won 2009 US Open, 22 career titles)
Felipe Massa (Brazil - Motor Racing - 11 Grand Prix wins, 41 podiums)
Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia - Motor Racing - 7 Grand Prix wins, 5 IndyCar wins, 10 Champ Car wins)
Carlos Pace (Brazil - Motor Racing - Won one Grand Prix race, 6 podiums)
Paula Pareto (Argentina - Judo - 2016 Olympic gold, 2015 World Championship gold, 4 Pan American Games golds)
Pele (Brazil - Football - Scored 650 goals in 694 League matches, won three World Cups, all-time leading goalscorer for Brazil)
Maxi Pereira (Uruguay - Football - Won 2011 Copa America with Uruguay, played over 300 games with Benfica)
Jefferson Perez (Ecaudor - Athletics - Won 1996 Olympic gold, three World Championship golds)
Nelson Piquet (Brazil - Motor Racing - Won three championships, 23 Grand Prix wins)
Romario (Brazil - Football - Recieved Golden Ball in 1994 World Cup, won La Liga as top goalscorer)
Ronaldo (Brazil - Football - Won FIFA World Player of the Year three times and Ballon d'Or twice, second-highest goalscorer for Brazil)
Nairo Quintana (Colombia - Cycling - Won Giro in 2014 and Vuelta in 2016, won 8 Grand Tour stages)
Carlos Reutemann (Argentina - Motor Racing - 2nd in the 1981 championship, 12 Grand Prix wins)
Gilberto Silva (Brazil - Football - Won 2002 World Cup with Brazil, captained them to 2007 Copa America win)
Socrates (Brazil - Football - 1983 South American Footballer of the Year, 1983 Copa America runner-up)
Antonio Valencia (Ecuador - Football - Won nine titles with Manchester United)
Zico (Brazil - Football - Won South American Footballer of the Year three times, Brazilian top scorer five times)

The deadline is 23:59 Sunday 18th August. Get voting!

Copy-paste list without brackets:

Eider Arevalo

Bebeto

Helio Castroneves

Luis Fernando Lopez

Jose Froilan Gonzalez

Garrincha

Gaston Gaudio

Andres Gomez

Gonzalo Higuain

Rene Higuita

Caterine Ibarguen

Maria Isabel Urrutia

Mario Kempes

Jose Luis Chilavert

Juan Manuel Fangio

Diego Maradona

Juan Martin del Potro

Felipe Massa

Juan Pablo Montoya

Carlos Pace

Paula Pareto

Pele

Maxi Pereira

Jefferson Perez

Nelson Piquet

Romario

Ronaldo

Nairo Quintana

Carlos Reutemann

Gilberto Silva

Socrates

Antonio Valencia

Zico

20pts - Pele

19 - Diego Maradona

18 - Juan Manuel Fangio

17 - Garrincha

16 - Nelson Piquet

15 - Ronaldo

14 - Zico

13 - Mario Kempes

12 - Gilberto Silva

11 - Romario

10 - Socrates

9 - Juan Martin del Petro

8 - Helio Castroneves

7 - Caterine Ibarguen

6 - Jose Luis Chilavert

5 - Paula Pareto

4 - Andres Gomez

3 - Rene Higuita

2 - Gaston Gaudio

1 - Bebeto

20- Pele

19- Diego Maradona

18- Ronaldo

17- Garrincha

16- Zico

15- Juan Manuel Fangio

14- Juan Martin del Potro

13- Romario

12- Gilberto Silva

11- Socrates

10- Nelson Piquet

9- Juan Pablo Montoya

8- Paula Pareto

7- Carlos Reuetemann

6- Jose Luis Chilavert

5- Gaston Gaudio

4- Caterine Ibarguen

3- Rene Higuita

2- Mario Kempes

1- Felipe Massa

20+ Pele

19+ Diego Maradona

18+ Garrincha

17+ Ronaldo

16+ Juan Manuel Fangio

15+ Zico

14+ Nelson Piquet

13+ Romario

12+ Jose Luis Chilavert

11+ Mario Kempes

10+ Juan Martin del Potro

9+ Gonzalo Higuain

8+ Nairo Quintana

7+ Jose Froilan Gonzalez

6+ Juan Pablo Montoya

5+ Bebeto

4+ Felipe Massa

3+ Helio Castroneves

2+ Antonio Valencia

1+ Caterine Ibarguen

+20 Pele

+19 Juan ManuelFangio

+18 Nelson Piquet

+17 Zico

+16 Jose Froilan Gonzalez

+15 Gonzalo Higuin

+14 Bebeto

+13 Socrates

+12 Carlos Reutemann

+11 Helio Castroneves

+10 Jose Luis Chilavert

+9 Carlos Pace

+8 Juan Pablo Montoya

+7 Paula Pareto

+6 Romario

+5 Felipe Massa

+4 Antonio Valencia

+3 Caterine Ibarguen

+2 Ronaldo

+1 Garrincha

 

Edited August 14, 20195 yr by Severin

 

20 Pele

19 Diego Maradona

18 Nelson Piquet

17 Ronaldo

16 Socrates

15 Juan Manuel Fangio

14 Juan Pablo Montoya

13 Andres Gomez

12 Juan Martin del Potro

11 Caterine Ibarguen

 

 

+20 Pele

+19 Diego Maradona

+18 Juan Manuel Fangio

+17 Nairo Quintana

+16 Ronaldo

+15 Zico

+14 Garrincha

+13 Romario

+12 Helio Castroneves

+11 Nelson Piquet

+10 Mario Kempes

+9 Juan Martin del Potro

+8 Bebeto

+7 Andres Gomez

+6 Caterine Ibarguen

+5 Jose Luis Chilavert

+4 Paula Pareto

+3 Luis Fernando Lopez

+2 Gonzalo Higuain

+1 Antonio Valencia

RESULTS

Finalists:
Juan Manuel Fangio
Garrincha
Diego Maradona
Pele
Nelson Piquet
Ronaldo
Zico

Advance to Playoffs:
Juan Martin del Potro
Romario
Socrates


Eliminated:
(7th: 67pts)
(10th: 50pts)
39 Jose Luis Chilavert
37 Juan Pablo Montoya
36 Mario Kempes
34 Helio Castroneves
32 Caterine Ibarguen
28 Bebeto
26 Gonzalo Higuain
25 Nairo Quintana
24 Andres Gomez
24 Gilberto Silva
24 Paula Pareto
23 Jose Froilan Gonzalez
19 Carlos Reutemann
10 Felipe Massa
9 Carlos Pace
7 Gaston Gaudio
7 Antonio Valencia
6 Rene Higuita
3 Luis Fernando Lopez

Two very clear cut-off points this time round. A couple of Argentinians break up the Brazilian dominance but once again all the qualifiers are footballers and motorists.