London: Cristiano Ronaldo became a five-time winner of FIFA’s best player award. The Real Madrid forward was crowned player of the year on Tuesday. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and PSG’s Neymar were runners up for the award.
A second successive honor for Cristiano Ronaldo was expected after a season in which he eclipsed his award counterparts in the trophy stakes. The 32-year old Ronaldo has now won La Liga, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Best Player and FIFA Best Player in 2017.
Gianluigi Buffon has been named the Best FIFA Goalkeeper. The 39-year old Italian goalkeeper won title defeating Real Madrid’s Keylor Navas and Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer. Buffon is the inaugural holder of the title as Best FIFA Goalkeeper is a new addition to FIFA’s awards.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was crowned coach of the year. Zidane beat out Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri to claim the prize for the first time having been the runner-up to Claudio Ranieri in 2016.
The Puskas Award for best goal went to Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud for a scorpion-style kick. The Puskas Award-winning goal from an overhead back-heeled strike came on New Year’s Day in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Real Madrid players dominated the FIFA Pro XI for the second year as five of their players slotted into the line-up. Cristiano Ronaldo, Best player of the year, was joined by Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and PSG’s Neymar was named in the FIFA XI too.
The Netherlands’ Lieke Martens won best female player of the year, while the Dutch women’s national team coach Sarina Weigman was voted best manager after the team’s triumph at Euro 2017.
