Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer to win a second consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The Portuguese was up against Barcelona's Messi and Bayern Munich's Neuer, both finalists in last year's World Cup.
But his 60 goals in 2014, including a record tally on the way to his side’s Champions League victory, helped the 29-year-old edge out his rivals in the voting, to lift the award for a second consecutive year, and a third time in his career.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer to win a second consecutive FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The Portuguese was up against Barcelona's Messi and Bayern Munich's Neuer, both finalists in last year's World Cup.
But his 60 goals in 2014, including a record tally on the way to his side’s Champions League victory, helped the 29-year-old edge out his rivals in the voting, to lift the award for a second consecutive year, and a third time in his career.
“I would like to thank all of those who voted for me,” Ronaldo commented in receiving the award, as relayed by FIFA’s official website.
“It has been an incredible year. I would like to continue the work that I have done so far. I want to try to improve, to become better as each day goes by.
“I never thought that I would bring this trophy back home on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”
Ronaldo received 37.66 per cent of the vote, against Messi's 15.76 per cent and Neuer's 15.72 per cent. Captains and Coaches from each national team provided top three nominations, as did select members of the international media.
Gigi Buffon as Italy captain, and Antonio Conte as CT both voted Ronaldo, Messi and Neuer in that order.