CHAPECOENSE OPPONENTS GIVEN FAIR PLAY AWARD
Claudio Ranieri takes top coach award after guiding Leicester City to a dream title
Zurich, Jan. 10: Cristiano Ronaldo claimed FIFA’s inaugural best player of the year award on Monday, the latest prize for the Real Madrid and Portugal star after a glittering 2016 for club and country.
Leicester City’s Claudio Ranieri received the best men’s coach award following his side’s fairytale Premier League triumph.
But the night again belonged to the 31-year-old Ronaldo, who edged out long-time nemesis Lionel Messi for the trophy as well as France’s Antoine Griezmann, the top player at this summer’s European championship.
Ronaldo had already won the Ballon d’Or after his third Champions League title, thanks largely to his 16 goals in 12 games, as well as triumphing with Portugal at Euro 2016 — the country’s first major prize.
“2016 was the best year of my career,” Ronaldo said after being handed the prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Ranieri, 65, who saw off Real boss Zinedine Zidane and Portugal manager Fernando Santos, said the best coach honour was “incredible” after receiving the prize from Argentine football legend Diego Maradona.
Under Ranieri’s leadership, Leicester pulled off one of the greatest shocks in English football history by defying title odds of 5,000-1 to lift the Premier League trophy last season.
Having miraculously avoided relegation the previous Zurich, Jan. 10: Atletico Nacional collected the Fair Play prize at FIFA awards ceremony after the Colombian side requested Chapecoense receive the Copa Sudamericana title following a plane crash that decimated the Brazilian club.
Chapecoense were flying to Medellin ahead of the first leg of the final when their plane crashed in the Colombian mountains on November 28, killing all but six of the 77 people on board.
Nineteen players and 24 other club members season, the Foxes rode that wave of momentum all the way to the title.
The prizes were based on a combined voting process involving national team coaches and captains, a select group of journalists and fans. Ronaldo took 34.5 percent of the vote over perished as the accident tragically cut short their dream of playing in Chapecoense’s first major final.
Atletico subsequently asked for their grieving opponents to be awarded the title, with South American football’s governing body granting the request a week later.
Fans of both sides paid tribute to the victims as thousands, dressed in white and holding candles, piled into Atletico’s stadium for the originally planned kick-off to grieve together and mourn those lost.
— AFP 26.4 percent to Messi, who skipped the awards show co-hosted by US actress and former “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria. Barcelona said Messi was focused on preparing for an upcoming match against Athletic Bilbao. — AFP