Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFA’s best player award for a personal best fourth on Monday, following Portugal and Real Madrid’s successful major title championships – Euro 2016, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup 2016. In his acceptance speech which he gave in Portuguese, he said, “Wow, wow, wow, 2016 was the best year of my career.”
He beat runner-up and pheominal rival Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann to complete a sweep of top individual awards. Ronaldo got 34.54 percent of total voting points in a 23-candidate ballot. Messi received 26.42 percent, and third-place Griezmann got 7.53 percent. Voting was carried out by national team captains and coaches, select media, and fans online.
Ronaldo’s 2016 trophy haul included;
- European Championship The Euro 2016 final came down to France and Portugal, and Portugal walked away with one epic win, even after Cristiano Ronaldo was forced to sit out most of the game.
- Champions League: Ronaldo scored the decisive penalty for Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final. During the interview after the game, he said, “I saw Zidane before the penalties and told him to put me as the last taker because I feel I am going to score the winning goal,” Ronaldo says afterwards. “And that is what happened.”
- FIFA Club World Cup Ronaldo’s hat trick against Kashima Antlers during the final of the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament in Yokohama led Real Madrid to Club World Cup title, making him the first player to score a hat trick in a Club World Cup final.
- UEFA Super Cup Real Madrid started the 2016-17 season by adding to their haul of trophies, a point which particularly pleased Florentino Pérez as he stated: “We are really happy because winning the UEFA Super Cup is no mean feat, and we have won it following our last three Champions League titles”. The Real Madrid club president greeted the players at their hotel.
Individual awards;
- UEFA Golden boot
- UEFA EURO 2016 adidas Silver Boot: Ronaldo scooped the Silver Boot with three goals and three assists behind Antoine Griezmann of France 6 goals 2 assists.
- World soccer best player
- Goal world best player
- MARCA best player
- UEFA best player
- Ballon D’or
- FIFA Club World Cup golden ball
- FIFA club world cup best player
- EURO Sports award
- ESPN Top athlete player award
- Best European athlete award
- Globe soccer best player of the year award
- European best sportsperson award
- FIFA men player of the year.
Featured Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
