And the winner is… Ronaldo emerges world’s best footballer for third time

Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo has been crowned the World Footballer of the Year – beating perennial rival, Lionel Messi (the only other man to have won it in the last seven years) and German stopper, Manuel Neuer to the award.

In 2014, the 29-year-old Real Madrid striker scored an extraordinary 61 times, broke the Champions League goals record for a season (17) and helped Real Madrid win that competition for an unprecedented tenth time.