Sergio Busquets named 2021 UEFA Nations League Player of the Finals

Sergio Busquets of Spain has been named Hisense Player of the Finals following the UEFA Nations League decider at Milan's San Siro.

Robbie Keane, UEFA Technical Observer: "He controlled both games, dictated the play and made the players around him better."

The Spain captain dominated the midfield battle in his side's semi-final victory against Italy, shielding the defence and spreading passes around – prompting Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport to hail him as a "maestro". He was similarly important in Sunday's final versus France, setting up Mikel Oyarzabal's opening goal before Les Bleus fought back to clinch the trophy.

Busquets' 2021 Nations League stats

Minutes played: 180
Assists: 1
Balls recovered: 9
Passing accuracy: 94%

As well as being named Player of the Finals in Italy, Busquets will aim to inspire La Roja to 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification next month. Spain round off their Group B campaign against Greece and Sweden.

The trophy

Hisense has supplied and presented the Player of the Finals trophy to Busquets in collaboration with UEFA. Having been designed and produced in the R&D and production facilities in Qingdao, the home of Hisense, the trophy adopts the Chinese character "信", meaning “trust”. The “信” character also features within Hisense's name.

Based on the design concept of Trust, the trophy captures the notion that trust not only forms the basis of the communication between players and teams, but also functions as the bridge between individuals, organisations and nations.

UEFA's Technical Observers

Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Robbie Keane, Vera Pauw