Cristiano Ronaldo has been crowned with the 2014 Ballon d'Or award after being named as the world's best player for a second success...
Cristiano Ronaldo has been crowned with the 2014 Ballon d'Or award after being named as the world's best player for a second successive year.
The 29-year-old pipped Manuel Neuer and perennial rival Lionel Messi to the gong after a stellar 12 months.
Ronaldo played an integral role for Real Madrid as they won four trophies during the previous calendar year, scoring a stunning 56 goals in 51 appearances as the Spanish giants collected the Copa del Rey, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup
Ronaldo received 37.6 percent of all votes, ahead of Lionel Messi (15.8 percent) and Manuel Neuer (15.7 percent). Ronaldo helped lead Real Madrid to the Champions League title in 2014.
All three players shortlisted for the FIFA Ballon d'Or award were unsurprisingly selected by their peers to be named in the 2014 FIFPro World XI team.
Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer and ultimate winner Cristiano Ronaldo were among seven 2013 team members who retained their places in worldwide voting by 23,000 members of national players' unions.
Women's World Player Of The Year
Wolfsburg and Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler was named women's player of the year. The 26-year-old beat Brazil's Marta and United States international Abby Wambach.
Puskas Award (Goal Of The Year)
Colombia's James Rodriguez won the Fifa goal of the year award for his World Cup strike against Uruguay, beating Irishwoman Stephanie Roche.
Roche, who scored a stunner for Peamount against Wexford in the Irish top flight, had hoped to be the first female winner of the Puskas Award.
But she landed only 33% of the public vote to Rodriguez's 42%.
World Coach - Men's Football
Germany boss Joachim Low won after leading his country to World Cup glory in Brazil, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final.
Low beat Diego Simeone, who led Atletico Madrid to the Spanish title and Champions League final, and Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, whose side beat their city rivals in that game.
Fair Play Award
The winner was the thousands of volunteers who gave up their time to work at Fifa competitions - including the World Cup - over the past 12 months.
Presidential Award
The Presidential Award was picked by Fifa president Sepp Blatter for "a person that has made a superlative contribution to football without seeking to monopolise the limelight".
The winner was Japanese journalist Hiroshi Kagawa, who covered his 10th World Cup last summer at the age of 89.
.jpg)
