By RYAN TOLMICH
In the end, it was Cristiano Ronaldo by a landslide.
The Portuguese star claimed his second consecutive Ballon d’Or at Monday’s FIFA gala, topping Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Ronaldo, who led Real Madrid to a Champions League triumph in 2014, received 37.66 percent of the overall vote, compared to 15.76 and 15.72 percent for Messi and Neuer, respectively.
“I would like to thank all of those who voted for me. It has been an incredible year,” Ronaldo said. “I would like to continue the work that I have done so far. I want to try to improve, to become better as each day goes by. I never thought that I would bring this trophy back home on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”
On the women’s side, VFL Wolfsburg’s Nadine Kessler was recognized as Women’s World Player of the Year by beating out Brazil’s Marta as well as U.S. Women’s National Team forward Abby Wambach. In addition, Wolfsburg manager Ralf Kellerman earned accolades as World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football.
Germany’s Joachim Low was recognized as World Coach of the Year for the men after leading Germany to this summer’s World Cup triumph. Low beat out Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone, who finished second and third, respectively.
Take a look at the complete list of Monday’s winners, as well as the FIFA Team of the Year below:
FIFA BALLON D’OR WINNER: Cristiano Ronaldo
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nadine Kessler
FIFA PUSKAS AWARD: James Rodriguez
FIFA WORLD COACH OF THE YEAR FOR MEN’S FOOTBALL: Joachim Low
FIFA WORLD COACH OF THE YEAR FOR WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: Ralf Kellermann
WORLD XI: Manuel Neuer; Phillip Lahm, Sergio Ramos, David Luiz, Thiago Silva; Angel Di Maria, Andres Iniesta, Toni Kroos; Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arjen Robben
FIFA PRESIDENTIAL AWARD: Hiroshi Kagawa
FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD: FIFA Volunteers
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What do you think of Monday’s awards? Agree with the choices? Any notable snubs?
Share your thoughts below.
Yes Smart, Champions League is tournament and not a league. Don’t let the name mislead you. EPL and Bundesliga seems to be more challenging for strikers.
So Low gets Coach of the Year for the unbelievable transformation of a hapless ragtag band of underachievers such as Neuer, Lahm, Hummels, Schweinsteiger, Muller, Ozil, and Klose into a cohesive group capable of winning a tournament. Well played FIFA, well played.
I know right, even Klinsmann could finish in the top three with the German national team (if the World Cup were held in Germany at least)…
There can be only one!
I would like to see what Ronaldo and Messi would do in a different league that was not so top heavy like La Liga is? Seems like majority of their goals come from the bottom 15 teams with poor defense.
It’s called the Champions League and they’ve done pretty good there also
I know right. Imagine if Ronaldo played in the EPL, say for a Man United.
Ah but Messi wouldn’t even make bench for Stoke
lol
I’m guessing most players’ goals come against the bottom 75% of teams, too. Brilliant.
Messi’s 21 goals against Real Madrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8IZFmQwgFc
Well that’s good to hear, his self confidence needed a little boost.
Can’t let a good joke like that go unrewarded. +1
indeed! +1
+ 1
LOL @ David Luiz
LOL @ Iniesta too. A down year for him. Hard coming up with someone else who was consistently good enough to take his place, though.