Alvalade winger wins 2015 nomination

Alex Merlim has been named Italian futsal's Player of the Year for 2015, in a vote through the Italian Football Federation's Vivo Azzurro website.

The Sporting winger tallied 40% of voted cast, beating the Acqua&Sapone goalkeeper Stefano Mammarella by 2%. The 2014 winner, El Pozo Murcia's Gabriel Lima, finished in third with 12% of the vote.

Alex Merlim signed in at Alvalade this season from Luparense, where he won two Italian Championships, an Italian Cup and a Super Cup. For Italy the 29-year old winger won the European Championships in 2014, after finishing third in the 2012 World Cup hosted in Thailand.