Cristiano Ronaldo named player of the year at Fifa awards
Real Madrid star beats Messi to another gong – but sees Los Galacticos share team of the year with Barcelona
Cristiano Ronaldo added another trophy to his ever-growing collection as he was crowned player of the year at the inaugural Best Fifa Football Awards in Zurich, beating Messi of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann.
It caps a remarkable year for the 31-year-old Real Madrid star. "As well as scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout to win the Champions League, rescuing Real with a hat-trick in the final of the Club World Cup, captaining Portugal to Euro 2016 glory and being recognised with a fourth Ballon d'Or, he now has something Messi does not - the honour of being named best Fifa men's player," says the BBC.
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri was also honoured as coach of the year, while US co-captain Carli Lloyd was named female player.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The event was not free of controversy, however, as Barcelona stopped four of their players, including Messi, from attending, reports The Times.
The players had been due to attend after being picked by their fellow professionals in a world XI.
They pulled out because Barca are preparing for a cup tie on Wednesday, although the Times says:
"There was speculation that Barcelona’s decision was made because the world player award was given to Cristiano Ronaldo, the Real Madrid forward, rather than Messi."
The rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi was evident in the two players' voting for the event. Asked to pick their top three players, they both overlooked each other.
"With political choices that have something of the Eurovision about them, not only did Ronaldo and Messi snub each other as their first choices, they didn't even put each other in their top three. Instead, both picked their Real Madrid and Barcelona team-mates. Ronaldo's top three were Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos, while Messi's were Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta," reports the Daily Telegraph.
There were also some oddities in the voting, which was carried out by the captains and coaches of national teams, plus media and fans, with the Telegraph saying the Turks and Caicos Islands picked Jamie Vardy as its choice for player of the year.
However, Fifa's world team of the year provided "a slap in the face for English football", says the Daily Mail, with not one Premier League star in the XI. Indeed, the line-up was another Real Madrid and Barcelona carve-up.
Bayern Munich keeper Manuel Neuer was the only choice without a connection to the two Spanish sides. Five of the team come from Los Galacticos and four from the Catalan - the remaining player, Dani Alves, left Barca for Juventus in the summer.
However, there was no room for Bale or Griezmann in the team.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 2, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - anti-fascism, early voter turnout, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
The European Super League: a 90th-minute reprieve?
Why everyone's talking about A European court ruling has potentially breathed new life into the breakaway football league
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup: glitz, glamour and 'grimly inevitable'
Talking Point Critics claim country is guilty of sportswashing as it stands unopposed to host tournament
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Fifa World Cup 2026 expansion: for the global game or for Fifa’s greed?
Talking Point The men’s tournament co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the USA will have a record 104 matches
By Mike Starling Published
-
Where will Cristiano Ronaldo go next?
feature Portugal captain has been linked with a mega-money move to Saudi Arabia
By Mike Starling Last updated
-
Reactions to Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘explosive’ interview with Piers Morgan
feature Portugal captain feels ‘betrayed’ by Man Utd and believes he’s being forced out of the club
By Mike Starling Published
-
What next for Cristiano Ronaldo? How the relationship with Man Utd turned sour
Under the Radar Portugal star has ‘almost certainly’ played his last game for United as he is dropped for Chelsea clash
By Mike Starling Published
-
The biggest sports scandals of the 21st century
In Depth Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and football’s governing body have all shocked the world
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: all-time number of goals, career stats and awards
In Depth Portugal star scores 900th career goal but both are facing the challenges of passing time
By Mike Starling, The Week UK Last updated