Regal Ronaldo /Real Madrid striker is king of the football world again

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Fifa men’s player of the year award, writes Tom Allnutt.

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.

“Thank you a lot to the guys for voting for me,” Ronaldo said.

“I want to give a mention to Leo and Neymar to be here, Real Madrid supporters, my team-mates, my coach, my president – they support me all the year so I have to say thank you to them. We are in England for the first time and I win consecutive awards. This is a great moment for me.”

Lieke Martens won the women’s player award after inspiring Holland to victory on home soil at Euro 2017.