Real Madrid CF & Portuguese International Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted & proclaimed the "FIFA France Football Golden Ball 2014" winner (37,66% of the votes), ahead of FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi (15,76%) & Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (15,72%). The full voting list can be examined in this link, after FIFA has made it publicly available. The Real Madrid player was the hot favourite & was Awarded for an exceptional year with titles that included Champions League, Spanish Cup, European Golden Boot, Champions League goalscoring record in a season, apart from UEFA Supercup & FIFA World Clubs. It the third Golden Ball for Cristiano Ronaldo, who said in his acceptance speech that this motivates him further to attempt to equalise Messi for a 4th Golden Ball.
The FIFPro World XI was:
Neuer; Ramos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Lahm; Kroos, Iniesta; Di Maria; Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi & Robben
Two Spanish Nationals - Ramos & Iniesta - with Spanish Club representation.
Real Madrid & Colombian International James Rodriguez won the "Puskas Award" for Goal of the Year, while Spanish Club Coaches Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid) & Diego Simeone (At.Madrid) were tipped by "Coach of the Year" winner the German Low.
The battle for next years Golden Ball is already underway.
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