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Soccer ambassador Schürrle

Richard ConnorMay 5, 2014

'The award is an honor and an incentive to always be aware of having a certain duty as a role model', says the Chelsea forward André Schürrle. Among other prize winners is also football globetrotter Rudi Gutendorf.

https://p.dw.com/p/1BuFU
Andre Schurrle of Chelsea in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium on April 13, 2014 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
Image: Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

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The ceremony took place at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, in the presence of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Germany international and Chelsea star Andre Schürrle was the winner of the People's Choice, having picked up the most votes in a international public poll to which there were 37,000 respondents.

"I am very proud of the award, especially when you see who the other candidates were," said Schürrle, speaking live by television link from London. Among those other players were Arsenal trio Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Mesut Özil, as well as reigning FIFA Women's Player of the Year Nadine Angerer.

"The award is an honor and an incentive to always be aware of having a certain duty as a role model," Schürrle added.

Schürrle has had a relatively successful inaugural season at Chelsea, which reached a Champions League semifinal and has remained in contention for the Premier League crown until the bitter end.

Women's football pioneer

Meanwhile, Germany's Monika Staab, who is the women's national coach of Qatar, secured the main prize, chosen by a panel of experts.

"I am very excited about the award and hope that the positive developments in women's football receive more attention as a result," said Staab.

A pioneer of the women's game in Germany, Staab won five German Cups and four league titles as club coach with FFC Frankfurt, as well as winning the then newly-launched UEFA Women's Champions League. As well as Qatar, she has also coached Bahrain.

The two other nominees for the main prize were Klaus Stärk, technical director of the Namibian Football Federation, and Winfried Schäfer who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon and is currently manager of the Jamaican national side.

There was also a special prize for journeyman German coach Rudi Gutendorf, who has coached 56 teams in 28 different countries. He began his career in 1946 in western Germany and ended it in Samoa in 2003.

Prize money shared among the winners will go to strengthen social soccer programs across the world.