Real Madrid and Portugal forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or.
He beat four-time winner of the award, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to the award, the third of his career.
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the award after polling 37.66% more than double the total of his nearest competitor, Messi who managed 15.76%.
Manuel Neuer finished third with 15.72%. percent of the votes cast by the coaches and captains of all international teams – plus a selection of journalists.
Ronaldo said on winning the award: “I would like to thank all of those who voted for me, my president, my coach and Real Madrid. It has been an unforgettable year. To win this trophy at the end of it is something incredibly unique.”
“I want to continue to work as I have so far, to try and and win more titles, for my mother, for my father, for my son. To all the Portuguese people out there: I never thought that I would take this trophy back on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”
He scored 61 goals for both club and country in 2014 and was considered by many to be the clear favourite for the award.
Other winners on the night were Ronaldo’s Real Madrid team-mate James Rodriguez, who picked up hte Puskas award for the best goal of 2014 for his strike at the World Cup in Brazil against Uruguay.
Wolfsburg and Germany midfielder, Nadine Kessler, was named women’s player of the year, beating Brazilian forward Marta and the United States’ Abby Wambach.
Germany’s World Cup-winning coach Joachim Low won the award for men’s coach of the year while Wolfsburg’sRalf Kellermann won the award in the women’s category.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana