The Best FIFA Football Awards: Cristiano Ronaldo crowned Fifa’s Best Player in the World beating Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann
The Real Madrid man crowned off an incredible year of trophy-winning at a red-carpet ceremony in Zurich
CRISTIANO RONALDO has been named Fifa's Best Player in the World - before aiming a cheeky dig at his great rival Lionel Messi.
The Real Madrid man beat off Barcelona's Messi, who wasn't at the event, and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann to collect the award at a star-studded event in Zurich this evening.
The award will go nicely alongside the Ballon d'Or prize he won towards the end of last year. Again, it was Messi he pipped to that accolade.
And after collecting the trophy from Fifa President Gianni Infantino, Ronaldo said: "I am sorry that some people from Barcelona aren't here with us... but that is understandable."
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Read below for all tonight's winners from the Fifa event in Switzerland.
Winner of The Best Fifa Male Player - Ronaldo
Ronaldo won the award after a truly remarkable year.
In 2016 he won the European Championship, Champions League, Club World Cup, plus individual best player awards from Fifa, Uefa, and France Football magazine.
Cristiano clinched the Champions League crown by scoring the final penalty in the finale’s shootout against city rivals Atletico before lifting his country’s first major trophy in France as Portugal’s captain.
He said: "2016 was the best year of my career.
"It was a year that was magnificent at a personal level and at a sports level," he added on the stage in Zurich.
Later, he added: "I'd like to thank my team, national team, Real Madrid, my trainer, my family that came here, my son, my brothers. 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games.
"With everything I won with my national team and club, with great individual performance, I can't forget this incredible year. Thanks for voting for me.
"I don't have much more to say, I think the awards speak for themselves. I'm not going to do the scream, just the motion."
Winner of The Best Fifa Female Player - Carli Lloyd
From an individual perspective, consistency has been the name of the game for 2015 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd.
The Stars and Stripes co-captain’s goalscoring rate has not dropped. However, from a collective point of view, 2016 was a rather forgettable year for the USA, as they failed to finish on the podium at a Women's Olympic Football Tournament for the first time in history.
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After they lost to Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals at Rio 2016, Lloyd’s unwavering professionalism and eye on the future showed through in her post-match quotes: “We can learn from this moment. It will make us hungrier, make us dig deeper and you best believe in 2019, we're going to win a World Cup.”
In the next World Cup cycle, Lloyd will be tasked with leading USA’s new generation to more glory and adding to the nation’s legacy.
Winner of the Puskas Award - Mohd Faiz Subri
Nobody in the Bandaraya Pulau Pinang Stadium could have imagined the trajectory of the ball as Mohd Faiz Subri stepped up to take a free-kick some distance away from goal, far over to the left-hand side of the pitch.
The diminutive No13, a prolific goalscorer in the Malaysian Super League, hammered his effort goalwards, producing a swerve so wicked that goalkeeper Mohd Nasril Nourdin stood no chance.
Winner of the Best Men's Coach - Claudio Ranieri
The award was voted by national coaches, captains media and the fans.
Claudio Ranieri achieved the seemingly impossible with Leicester City. The Foxes were ranked 5000/1 by some bookmakers to win the 2015/16 English Premier League title when the Italian first took charge in July 2015.
While it seemed that staving off relegation was the best Leicester could hope for before the campaign began, Ranieri would go on to inspire his charges, instilling an unrivalled team spirit as Leicester went on to incredibly win the Premier League against all odds, and claim the club’s first-ever top-flight title in their 132-year history.
Winner of the Best Women's coach - Silvia Neid
Legendary German coach Silvia Neid has ended a remarkable career by reaching the peak of her profession for the third time, twice more than any other coach in women’s football.
Having been involved in each of Germany’s eight European and two FIFA Women’s World CuP wins as either a player, assistant coach, or head coach, Silvia Neid’s biography reads like a never-ending list of triumphs.
She capped off this remarkable record in 2016 by leading her country to their first gold medal at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Brazil.
Winner of the Outstanding Career Award - Falcao
The former Manchester United and Chelsea frontman is now plying his trade in France with Monaco.
He has scored vital goals all his career, and although his time in England was not so successful, he has done wonders for Colombian football. His award was met with a standing ovation.
Winner of the Fifa Fair Play Award - Atletico Nacional
For their actions in awarding the Copa Sudamerica to Chapecoense, Atletico Nacional were the stand-out candidate for this special award.
They were scheduled to face each other, before the Colombia plane crash that killed most of the Chapecoense players and staff.
Fans of the clubs shared their grief, and mourned the lives of those lost, together, with thousands of Aletico Nacional supporters attending the stadium at the planned kick-off time of the final’s first leg, in tribute to those that could not be there to play the fixture.
The Best Fifa Fan Award - Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool supporters
“You’ll Never Walk Alone”, a song adopted by the Reds’ fans in the early 1960s, has since travelled around the world, transcending language barriers.
German giants Borussia Dortmund have adopted the anthem, and their fans joined Liverpool supporters in a chorus of solidarity ahead of their April UEFA Europa League meeting, with the Hillsborough disaster’s 27th anniversary the following day.
The moving gesture put sporting rivalry aside for a few minutes.
The FIFA FIFPro World11
Neuer, Dani Alves, Pique, Ramos, Marcelo, Modric, Kroos, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Ronaldo.