Cristiano Ronaldo has been named World player of the year by ‘World Soccer’ magazine, after journalists from around the world cast their votes for the Portugal international ahead of Leo Messi and Franck Ribery.
Ronaldo, who also won the award in 2008 -the same year he won the Ballon d’Or-, scored a total of 1,075 points, whilst Messi scored 926 and Ribery, 870. The three are also finalists for the FIFA Ballon d’Or to be announced next month.
The ‘top 10’ players included Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Arjen Robben, Neymar, Philipp Lahm, Robin Van Persie, Gareth Bale and Robert Lewandowski. Andres Iniesta, in twelfth place, was the highest ranking Spanish player.
Midfielder of the Armenian national team and Borussia Dortmund Henrikh Mkhitaryan shares the 69th place with Mario Balotelli (Milan & Italy), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus & Italy), Christian Eriksen (Ajax/Tottenham Hotspur & Denmark), Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi/Chelsea & Cameroon), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United & Wales), Javi Martinez (Bayern Munich & Spain), Blaise Matuidi (Paris Saint-Germain & France), Joao Moutinho (Porto/Monaco & Portugal), Paulinho (Corinthians/Tottenham Hotspur & Brazil), Mohamed Salah (Basle & Egypt) and Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/Juventus & Argentina).
