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FIFA best awards lightens London amidst glare and glamour

Real Madrid striker, Cristiano Ronaldo retained his title as Men’s player of the year, equalling his rival, Lionel Messi, with five awards apiece.

The Best FIFA awards ceremony which was held on Monday night at the London Palladium marked the second awards ceremony held since the split from France Football Ballon d’Or player of the year awards last year.

The ceremony was graced by past and present football legends including Diego Maradona, Ronaldo de Lima, Frank Lampard and a host of others.

The award covers a period of November 20, 2016 to July 2, 2017 and is voted for by national team coaches, team captains, and media and fans outlets.

Ronaldo edged Messi and Neymar to clinch the title for the second consecutive time with, the votes showed that neither Messi nor Ronaldo voted for themselves.

Neymar however failed to get home support as his national coach, Tite voted for Ronaldo against Neymar with their media representative leaving out Neymar entirely off his ballot.

France and Arsenal’s striker, Olivier Giroud won the Puskas Award for goal of the year with his astonishing ‘scorpion kick’ goal against Crystal Palace.

Real Madrid Coach, Zinedine Zidane beat Chelsea’s Antonio Conte to lift the Men’s Coach of the year. Zidane became the first coach to win the UEFA Champions League back-to-back after beating Juventus in the final in May.

The Best Goalkeeper of the year however went to Juventus Gianluigi Buffon after winning a sixth consecutive Serie A title and over 600 minutes of Champions League with conceding a goal.

Togo’s Francis Kone won the FIFA Fair Play Award. Kone saved the life of goalkeeper Martin Berkovec who almost suffocated by swallowing his tongue during a match in the Czech league match in February.

Kone has rendered first aid to a number of players on the pitch at different times, saving lives and reducing possibility of casualty.

The women’s coach title went to Sarina Wiegman of Netherlands having led the Dutch National team to win the Euro 2017 title on home soil.

In a night of awards and glamour, no English nor Premier League player made the FifPro World XI as all players chosen were from other European leagues with Real Madrid enjoying the list.

In a related development, some sports analysts have expressed ideas on how the award ought to have given. Apart from the votes, it is believed that the system makes it difficult for players not in the striking position to win the award as they hardly score goals butt still contribute immensely to the team.

Ronaldo has won four of the last five years with Messi emerging as runner up in all four. Yet, Messi has contributed much in scoring and also giving assists for goals.

Andres Iniesta has been of great influence in the midfield of every match, creating the scoring opportunities and sometimes getting goals himself. Despite all his achievements in one of the most vital position in the game, he is yet to win the award leaving many with thoughts of how justified is the FIFA awards.

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