CRISTIANO RONALDO WALKED away with another award last night in Zurich after claiming the inaugural The Best Fifa Men’s Player Award for 2016.
He got the backing of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman after a year in which the Portuguese star won Euro 2016 with his country and the Champions League with his club Real Madrid.
But Ireland manager Martin O’Neill surprisingly didn’t hand Ronaldo a place in his top three.
Instead O’Neill went for one of his current World Cup qualifying opponents as the star man.
Welsh player Gareth Bale was his first choice, followed by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and French midfielder N’Golo Kanté.
Coleman went for Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to complete his vote. Irish media representative Philip Quinn also went for Ronaldo and Messi – in that order – with Neymar getting his third vote.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill chose a trio of Ronaldo, Messi and French striker Antoine Griezmann.
While his captain Steven Davis picked Messi as his number one selection, ahead of Ronaldo and Griezmann.
Full details here on the breakdown of votes.
Fifa Player of the Year
Martin O’Neill: 1. Gareth Bale, 2. Gianluigi Buffon, 3. N’Golo Kante.
Seamus Coleman: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo, 2. Lionel Messi, 3. Luis Suarez.
Philip Quinn: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo, 2. Lionel Messi, 3. Neymar.
Michael O’Neill: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo, 2. Lionel Messi, 3. Antoine Griezmann.
Steven Davis: 1. Lionel Messi, 2. Cristiano Ronaldo, 3. Antoine Griezmann.
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