Ronaldo wins 2014 Ballon d'Or

Portuguese international and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo took the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or - awarded to the world's footballer of the year - for the second year in a row and third time in his career. After wins in 2008 and 2013, Ronaldo fended off competition from four-time winner Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Ronaldo won the title with 37.66 percent of all votes ahead of Messi (15.76 percent) and Neuer (15.72 percent).
Meanwhile, the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award went to Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler, while Germany coach Joachim Low and compatriot Ralf Kellermann, coach of Wolfsburg Ladies, were named FIFA World Coach of the Year for men's and women's football, respectively.
The winners were chosen by the coaches and captains of national teams as well as by international media representatives invited by FIFA and magazine, France Football at Zurich's Kongresshaus on Monday.
International players' union FIFPro also invited some 24,000 professional players from around the world to vote for the FIFA FIFPro World XI - the best team of 2014 - with the three players all included in the squad.
With Germany's Neuer in goal, defenders include Brazilians David Luiz and Thiago Silva, Germany's Philipp Lahm and Spain's Sergio Ramos.
Midfield sees Argentine Angel Di Maria, alongside Spain's Andres Iniesta and Germany's Toni Kroos, with Ronaldo and Messi joined by Arjen Robben of the Netherlands in attack.
The FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal of the year was also presented after 3.3 million football fans cast their votes on FIFA.com, FIFA on YouTube and francefootball.fr.
This award, which honours Ferenc Puskas, the captain and star of the 1950s Hungary team, was won by Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez, who demonstrated perfect technique to give his side a 1-0 lead over Uruguay in the 2014 FIFA World Cup last-16. Rodriguez topped the poll with 42 percent of the votes ahead of Stephanie Roche (33 percent) and Robin van Persie (11 percent).
The FIFA Ballon d'Or was presented for the fifth time since the merging of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football's Ballon d'Or award in 2010.
Some 181 national team coaches, 182 national team captains, and 181 media representatives submitted their votes for the award
Source: KUNA