The 2017 Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Trophy has been handed to the Portuguese soccer star, Christiano Ronaldo, of Real Madrid at an impressive ceremony in London, attended by football’s best from around the globe. The Portuguese soccer icon, who has scored 44 goals in 48 games for his club and country so far this year, played a major role in the triumph of Real Madrid in both La Liga and the Champions League.
For once, the 32-year old Ronaldo was able to shove away the competition from his arch-rivals, Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar, the world’s most expensive player. Ronaldo won the inaugural Best FIFA men’s player of the year award last year following the end of a six-year merger between the FIFA honour and the Ballon D’Or. It is also on record that in 2008, Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award, which preceded the Best FIFA award. He enthusiastically said, “Thanks a lot for voting for me,” after receiving his trophy from the Argentine soccer maverick, Diego Maradona and his Brazilian namesake, Ronaldo, at the London Palladium theatre.
Christiano Ronaldo continued “To Leo and Neymar, I say it is great to be here. Real Madrid supporters, my team-mates, my coach, they all support me all year. We are in England for the first time and I win consecutive awards. This is a great moment for me. I have fans all over the world.”
Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane, won the FIFA Manager of the Year award, with the Spanish giants providing five players in the FIFA Pro team of the year. Zidane was crowned ahead of Chelsea’s Antonio Conte and Juventus’s Massimiliano Allegri after becoming the first man to oversee a successful defence of the European Cup in the Champions League era. The former French star said, “I would like to thank all of the players for making this possible. This is a very special prize.”
Real Madrid’s superb campaign was recognised in a FIFA Pro team that featured Ronaldo and club-mates Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos. The XI also included FIFA’s goalkeeper of the year, Gianluigi Buffon. AC Milan’s Leonardo Bonucci and PSG’s Dani Alves were in the defence, with Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta in the side that also featured Messi and Neymar.
Juventus and Italy shot-stopper Buffon topped a three-strong shortlist for the Goalkeeper of the Year award ahead of Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer. “It is a great honour to receive this award at my age,” said the 39-year-old Buffon. “I would like to finish with a fantastic victory for Italy next summer at the World Cup in Russia.”
The Puskas Award for the Best Goal of 2017 went to Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. The France striker received the award named in honour of Hungary great Ferenc Puskas for a spectacular ‘scorpion-kick’ against Crystal Palace in January. “I’m delighted to receive this trophy today in front of legends of football,” said Giroud. The volley flicked by the Frenchman with his left foot that went in off the crossbar won ahead of goals from Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos, 18, and South African goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.
Supporters of Celtic Club won the FIFA Fan Award for the way they marked the 50th anniversary of the ‘Lisbon Lions’ European Cup triumph that saw the Glasgow side become the first British club to lift the trophy after they beat Inter Milan in the Portuguese capital. The Fair Play award went to Francis Kone for saving the life of goalkeeper Martin Berkovec, who nearly suffocated as a result of swallowing his tongue during a Czech league match in February.
Voting for the bulk of the awards was equally weighted between national team captains and coaches, media and fans.
