Cristiano Ronaldo
won the FIFA Player of the Year award for the second straight year on Monday
and third time overall.
The Portuguese
forward, who led Real Madrid to its record 10th European title, received 37.66
percent of votes of national team coaches and captains and selected media to
add to the FIFA awards he won in 2008 and 2013.
Ronaldo scored 61
goals last year for club and country, and set a Champions League season record
with 17.
"I want to
become one of the greatest players of all time," he said through a
translator in his acceptance speech. "Of course, this requires a lot of
effort and I hope to get there."
Lionel Messi, the
Argentine star forward on Barcelona, was second in voting with 15.76 percent,
just ahead of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (15.72), who helped Germany to the World
Cup title.
On hearing his
name read out by French great Thierry Henry, the 29-year-old Ronaldo closed his
eyes, dipped his head and smiled before walking to the stage.
"It has been
an unforgettable year," Ronaldo said after taking a deep breath.
Messi won the
award four straight times from 2009-12. While Messi's Argentina lost in the
World Cup final, Ronaldo's Portugal was eliminated in the first round.
U.S. captain
Clint Dempsey voted Ronaldo first, followed by Messi and German midfielder
Thomas Mueller. American coach Jurgen Klinsmann — a former star and coach for
Germany — had Neuer first, followed by Messi and Dutch forward Arjen Robben.
Paul Kennedy of Soccer America, the U.S. media representative, voted Ronaldo
first, followed by Messi and German defender-midfielder Philipp Lahm.
The FIFA men's
award merged in 2010 with France Football's Golden Ball, given to the European
player of the year.
German midfielder
Nadine Kessler won the Women's Player of the Year for the first time, getting
17.52 percent to beat out Brazilian forward Marta (14.16) and American forward
Abby Wambach (13.33). Marta was a five-time winner from 2006-10 and Wambach won
in 2012.
U.S. coach Jill
Ellis voted Kessler first and Wambach second, whole American captain Christine
Rampone had Wambach first and didn't include Kessler among her top three. The
U.S. did not have a media vote.
Joachim Loew was
voted men's Coach of the Year after leading Germany to the World Cup title, and
Wolfsburg's Ralf Kellermann was picked as women's Coach of the Year.
"It's the
icing on the cake," Loew said through a translator. "What would a
coach be without a fantastic team? I am nothing without well-trained
players."
Loew received
36.23 percent of votes, including the top picks of Klinsmann and Dempsey,
followed by Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti (22.06) and Atletico Madrid's Diego
Simeone (19.02).
Kellermann got
17.06 percent, topping Germany under-20 coach Maren Meinert (13.16), Japan's
Norio Sasaki (13.06) and Sweden's Pia Sundhage (11.22), a former U.S. coach.
On the
FIFPro-FIFA world all-star team, Ronaldo, Messi, Neuer, Lahm and Robben were
joined by defenders David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos, and midfielders
Angel Di Maria, Andres Iniesta and Toni Kroos.
Luiz, Kroos, Di
Maria and Robben were picked for the first time in voting by 23,383 players in
58 nations.
FIFA President
Sepp Blatter made no mention of his upcoming presidential contest in his first
public appearance since FIFA Vice President Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan
announced last week he was running for the May ballot.
Blatter gave his
annual presidential award to 90-year-old Japanese journalist Hiroshi Kagawa,
who worked at his 10th World Cup in Brazil.
FIFA named
volunteer workers at its tournaments as the winner of its Fair Play award. In
their acceptance speeches, Kessler and Kellerman both paid tribute to Wolfsburg
player Junior Malanda, who died in a car crash last weekend.
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