RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho has upstaged Neymar by winning the Samba d'Or award for the best Brazilian footballer in Europe in 2016.

Coutinho received 32.13% of the votes to finish ahead of Barcelona forward Neymar (27.88%) and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro (13.35%).

Despite an ankle injury that sidelined him for all of December, Coutinho scored 13 goals for Liverpool in 2016 as Jurgen Klopp's team challenge for the club's first top-flight title since 1990.

Organized by Brazilian football magazine Sambafoot, the award is decided by players, former players, journalists and fans.

Neymar had been aiming to win the trophy for a third straight year. Other previous winners include Thiago Silva, Maicon, Luis Fabiano and Kaka.