DUSHANBE, 10.01.2017. /NIAT “Khovar”/. Cristiano Ronaldo has received the FIFA Men’s Player 2016 award at the gala ceremony held at the TPC studios in Zurich (Switzerland), the official website of Real Madrid CF reports.

According to message, the Real Madrid forward overcame Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann in the votes cast by a panel made up of national team coaches and captains from the 209 FIFA federations, a journalist representing each one of these countries and users of the FIFA website. The Portuguese forward claimed 34.54 % of the vote, whilst Messi earned 26.42% and Griezmann 7.53%.

“I’ve never won this award before and I’ll never forget this year. I’m really happy. There were a lot of doubts about us, but this trophy just proves that we continued to perform well. I won honours with my national team and my club side, so I was in no doubt that I could end up winning this award”, declared an emotional Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward closed by offering his thanks to his Madrid and Portugal teammates: “I want to thank everyone who voted for me, the Real Madrid and Portugual coaches and my teammates. 2016 was the best year of my career”.

An unforgettable year
The Whites’ striker, who recently claimed the Ballon d’Or crown, lifted last season’s Champions League and UEFA Super Cup crowns with Real Madrid and the European Championship title with Portugal, whilst netting 55 times (on 42 occasions for Real Madrid and 13 for Portugal) in the process.