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Lacazette, Blanc win France's soccer awards

Xinhua, May 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette has been voted the Ligue 1's Player of the Year by his fellow footballers at the Trophees UNFP ceremony here on Sunday evening.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc took the Coach of the Year award, and 21-year-old Lyon midfield Nabil Fekir the best young player.

Lacazette, 23 years old, beat Les Parisiens trio Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Javier Pastore and Marco Verratti for the award after having scored 27 goals in 33 appearance so far this season to help Lyon secure a berth to next season's Champions League as the Ligue 1 runners-up.

"It is an honor for me," said the 23-year-old. "Since I was a kid I dreamed of winning this kind of award, and leaving a mark on French football."

Blanc was named the best coach for the second time as other nominees were Lyon's Hubert Fournier, Saint-Etienne's Christophe Galtier and Cuingamp coach Jocelyn Gourvennec.

The 49-year-old Blanc, whose PSG just won their third Ligue 1 title in a row on Saturday with an away win at Montpellier, had previously won the honor in 2008 when he led Bordeaux to the second place in Ligue 1. Endi