FIFA Names Cristiano Ronaldo World Best Player

Federation of International Football (FIFA) has named Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world. He clinched the award during the FIFA Ballon d’Or award, while German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer claimed her first women’s prize.

The winners were announced few minutes ago in Zurich, Switzerland in an occasion supervised by PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland (PwC).

Jupp Heynckes, the former coach of Bayern Munich, and Germany’s women’s national team coach Silvia Neid took home the FIFA World Coach of the Year awards for men’s and women’s football respectively.

The award winners were voted for by national team coaches and captains, the international media representatives selected by FIFA and French football magazine France Football.

The FIFA FIFPro World XI honour went to the following all-star team: Manuel Neuer (Germany) in goal; Dani Alves (Brazil), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Sergio Ramos (Spain) and Thiago Silva (Brazil) in defence; Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Franck Ribéry (France) and Xavi (Spain) in midfield; and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) up front.

The FIFA Puskás Award for the “most beautiful goal” of the year as voted for on FIFA.com, FIFA on YouTube and francefootball.fr by football fans from all over the world went to Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who scored an audacious, acrobatic long-range bicycle kick for Sweden in a friendly match against England on 13 November 2012. Ibrahimović received 48.7 %of the votes, ahead of Nemanja Matić (30.8 %) and Neymar (20.5%).

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Former IOC President Jacques Rogge received the FIFA Presidential Award from President Joseph S. Blatter in recognition of his tireless work to defend the integrity of international sport. Rogge excelled with his refreshing, intelligent and humble approach to leadership and he put the Olympic movement back on to a safe and steady path for the future.

Brazil’s king of football, Pelé, was awarded the FIFA Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur for his lifetime achievements.

The FIFA Fair Play Award was given to the Afghanistan Football Federation for upholding the spirit of courage and solidarity against all odds through the after-effects of war, disorder and conflict.