Cristiano Ronaldo
has been named world footballer of the year for the second year running after
winning the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or.
The Portugal superstar beat fellow finalists Lionel Messi
and Manuel Neuer to the award after a season which saw him score 57 goals for
club and country and win four trophies with Real Madrid, including their historic Champions League ‘La Decima’.
Ronaldo had finished runner-up behind Messi in 2011 and 2012
before pipping the Argentinian in 2013 - and said at the glittering ceremony in
Zurich that he hopes there will be more to come.
The winner said: "It has been an unforgettable year and
win a trophy of this kind is something unique.
"I want to continue working as I have so far to go on
to win more titles as an individual and in a team.
"Of course this is something that is always with me. I
want to become one of the greatest players of all time and this requires a lot
of effort but I hope to get there."
Ronaldo was a clear winner with 37.66 per cent of total
votes cast by a panel made up of international captains and coaches as well as
the world's top journalists. Messi narrowly pipped Neuer to second place with
15.76 per cent, with the Bayern Munich goalkeeper on 15.72.
Meanwhile, England manager Roy Hodgson left both Ronaldo and
Messi out of his own top three, voting instead for Argentina's Javier Mascherano for the top prize ahead of
Germany pair Philipp Lahm and Neuer.
Ronaldo's Real Madrid team-mate James Rodriguez was earlier handed the Puskas Award for the
best goal of the year for his volley against Uruguay in the summer's World Cup.
The Colombian narrowly beat Ireland's Stephanie Roche, who
missed out on becoming the first woman to win the coveted award for her
sensational Peamount United goal, which went viral last year with over six
million video views online.
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