The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Diego Maradona looks on as Cristiano Ronaldo is unveiled as Fifa men’s player of the year for the second successive season in London last night.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Fifa men’s player of the year award.
Ronaldo retained the prize after scoring 44 goals in 48 appearances in 2017, including 33 for Real Madrid and 11 for Portugal.
The forward collected his award at a ceremony held at the London Palladium last night, with fellow nominees Lionel Messi and Neymar both in the crowd.
Celtic fans were also recognised with a gong at the Fifa Best Awards in London.
The Hoops supporters won the award of best fans for their tribute to the Lisbon Lions in May – for the 50th anniversary of the club winning the European Cup – after voting from other clubs’ supporters on Fifa’s website.
In a ceremony attended by the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish, fans took part in a card display which showed an image of the European Cup, accompanied by the words ‘Lisbon Lions’ at their final game of last season at Parkhead in tribute to Celtic’s 1967 triumph over Inter Milan in the Portuguese capital.
Celtic chairman Ian Bankier said: “This is an incredible honour. I want to thank Fifa and all the fans who voted for us.
Celtic beat Borussia Dortmund and FC Copenhagen to the award.
Lieke Martens won the women’s player award after inspiring Holland to victory on home soil at Euro 2017.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud won the Fifa Puskas Award for goal of the year.
Giroud’s stunning ‘scorpionkick’ scored against Crystal Palace in January beat off competition from Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos and South African goalkeeper Oscarine Masuluke.
Men’s coach of the year was Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, while Juventus No 1 Gianluigi Buffon won the best goalkeeper prize.
The Fair Play Award went to Francis Kone. He saved the life of goalkeeper Martin Berkovec, who almost suffocated by swallowing his tongue during a Czech league match.