Portugal and Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo was announced as the winner of the 2014 Ballon d’Or award, which is presented to the best player of that particular year. Ronaldo, who had scored 61 goals in 2014 has faced some tough competition from Germany and Bayern Munich goalie Manuel Neuer and his close rival Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to win the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or for the second time running.
FIFA #BallondOr 2014 winner @Cristiano received 37.66% of all votes ahead of Lionel Messi (15.76%) & @Manuel_Neuer (15.72%).
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) January 12, 2015
Ronaldo got 37.66% of all votes ahead of Lionel Messi (15.76%) and Manuel Neuer (15.72%). His Real Madrid teammate James Rodriguez won the Puskas award for the best goal of the year while his coach at Madrid Carlo Ancelotti failed to win the coach of the year, which was eventually won by Germany’s World Cup winning coach Joachim Loew. Vfs Wolfsburg duo of Ralf Kellermann and Nadine Kessler won the FIFA Best Coach for Women’s and FIFA women’s player of the year award.
But the FIFPro World XI team of the year took the limelight for the inclusion of Brazilian defender David Luiz ahead of some deserving candidates. The World XI is as follows: Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Toni Kroos, Angel di Maria, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben.
Here are the twitter reactions of the FIFA Ballon d’Or ceremony:
First mentions to the hot host.
Wowzer #SSNHQ‘s lovely multi-lingual @kate_abdo looks absolutely stunning presenting the #BallonDOr2014 awards! pic.twitter.com/z5wQzfqE7S
— BetVictor (@BetVictor) January 12, 2015
FIFPro World XI:
FIFA/@FIFPro World XI: Here is the team in full, voted by players #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/16gCd9MI9D
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
David Luiz ahead of Diego Godin?
David Luiz might have had the sportsmanship moment of the year w/James in World Cup…but World Best XI???? L. Oh. Ell.
— Avi Creditor (@AviCreditor) January 12, 2015
Seems like Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is not impressed.
David Luiz in the World XI? https://t.co/ms4QspNrls
— Zach (@DrZGeauxld) January 12, 2015
Atletico Madrid deserves more.
A team of the year without a single Atlético player. Apparently winning La Liga and making it to the CL final means nothing.
— Jen Evelyn (@JenFCB) January 12, 2015
FIFA Presidential Award goes to,
FIFA PRESIDENTIAL AWARD: The winner is Japanese journalist Hiroshi Kagawa #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/HUPsH5v4nA
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
Winner for FIFA World Coach of the year for women is
FIFA WORLD COACH OF THE YEAR FOR WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: The winner is Ralf Kellermann #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/z4JeIP9DA1
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
Joachim Loew or Carlo Ancelotti or Diego Simione? Here is the answer
FIFA WORLD COACH OF THE YEAR FOR MEN’S FOOTBALL: The winner is Joachim Low #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/lQDlh7m4zA
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
World Cup and the Best Coach of the year award for Loew.
Joachim Löw, Coach of the Year: “This is the icing on the cake. The cake being the World Cup.” #BallonDOr2014 pic.twitter.com/A7ZAqtD8yf
— BBC 606 (@bbc606) January 12, 2015
This is how Loew’s great speech ended:
Adds thanks to Diego and Carlo saying they too deserved the award, before saying thanks to the passion of all managers. #BallonDOr2014
— DW – Sports (@dw_sports) January 12, 2015
They did a fantastic job during the World Cup:
FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD: The winners are the volunteers from FIFA tournaments #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/CxZ960lVqf
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
The Puskas award for the best goal of the year goes to.
FIFA #PUSKAS AWARD: The winner, as voted for by fans, is @JamesRodriguez #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/6jwGy2r7WQ
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
Here is the stunner from James against Uruguay in the World Cup.
The winner of the #FifaPuskasAward is @jamesdrodriguez it is hard to argue with that… http://t.co/LkhOkzLnVj #BallonDOr2014
— BetVictor (@BetVictor) January 12, 2015
Many felt that Irish woman Stephanie Roche should have won it.
How the woman didn’t win goal of the year for that piece of genius is beyond me #BallonDOr2014
— Jonny Tattersall (@JonnyTatts) January 12, 2015
FIFA Women’s World Player of the year goes to…
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The winner is Nadine Kessler #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/bvrUHZGbXG
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
Legendary Thierry Henry announces the Ballon d’Or winner and it is
The winner is … #ballondor2014 https://t.co/w17RLGOOTs
— Loko (@LokoAmA) January 12, 2015
Congratulations Cristiano Ronaldo
FIFA BALLON D’OR: The winner is @Cristiano #BallondOr http://t.co/oG79I0PfFi pic.twitter.com/p8Gcf5vwa9
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) January 12, 2015
Real Madrid fans are happy for Ronaldo
Cristianoooooo Ronaldooooooooo wins the Ballon d’Or award and gets it from Legendary Thierry Henry…… #CongratsCR7 #HalaMadrid
— Vignesh Ananthasub (@MadridistaSays) January 12, 2015