Falcao awarded the Portuguese Golden Ball

Radamel Falcao had been an Atlético player for nearly six months, yet the honours for his last season in Portugal were still arriving. On Monday the Colombian striker was presented with the Bola de Ouro, the Golden Ball awarded by the newspaper A Bola to the best player in the Portuguese Liga Sagres, in recognition of his 2010/11 campaign with FC Porto.

That season Falcao scored 38 times as Porto completed a treble of league, cup and Europa League. The ceremony took place not in Lisbon but at the Colombian Embassy in Madrid, where Atlético’s number nine was accompanied by club president Enrique Cerezo, his agent Jorge Mendes and his wife Lorelei.

“It is a great pleasure to receive such an important prize,” Falcao said at the ceremony. “I’m honoured to have succeeded the great players who have passed through Portuguese football. I have to thank God, my wife, teammates and my agent.”

The striker also spoke about the changed mood at Atlético under Diego Simeone, who had taken over the bench a few weeks earlier. “Atlético are now a lot better,” he said. “This is just the start, but I have the feeling our future is a lot brighter than before. We are working hard to raise our level and compete with the best teams in the league.”

One less flattering side effect of the Simeone era was Falcao’s disciplinary record. The forward, who turned 26 that Friday, had already collected four yellow cards and stood one booking away from a suspension. Some supporters suggested resting him, or even accepting a deliberate card, so that any ban would not touch the crunch meeting with Barcelona at the end of the month. Falcao would not entertain the idea. “Now our philosophy is clear, we must go game by game. The aim is to win in Santander, and then the same in the next game,” he said. “Racing are a tough opponent, but right now all we are thinking about is getting the win in a difficult field.”

The caution proved unnecessary in the long run. Falcao’s first season in Madrid ended with the Europa League trophy, the start of a spell that would place him firmly among the club’s modern legends. His arrival marked one of the turning points in the club’s recent history, and the silverware that followed is recorded in the honours list. More reports from that season can be found in the archive.