VIDEO: Ronaldo bags sixth Best Men’s Player of the Year award
- 29 Dec 2019
Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter
Cristiano Ronaldo brings to a close the first twenty years of the 21st century, becoming the Best Men’s Player of the Year for the sixth time, following a season in which we saw him triumph in Italy with Juventus, with whom he won the Scudetto and the Super Cup. Elsewhere in Europe, he succeeded in winning the UEFA Nations League as part of the Portuguese national team.
Cristiano has distinguished himself everywhere, in Portugal, England, Spain, Italy and in every country, that has hosted him as a competitor. He has countless records to his credit: the start of this year’s season saw him score 23 times in 27 games. Not to mention the entire calendar year of 2019, with 50 games played in only one year at the age of 34, three titles won and 39 goals scored.
Another truly record year for Juventus Number 7!
He appeared in 50 matches and scored 39 goals across all the tournaments. He also won man of the match honours in 22 games along with three titles.
A delighted Ronaldo said: "I want to thank my family, friends, girlfriend and fans. I also want to extend my special thanks to Globe Soccer for the honours.
"I am thankful to Arab community for being so nice to me. I feel great to be in Dubai. It is a wonderful place to be in. I want to come here next year also to receive this award.”
Talking about his flying goal two weeks back he said: "I have scored over 700 goals and now it is difficult to say which is the best. But I think it must be one of the headers.”
Following are the awards presented at the 11th edition of the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards:
1. Best Academy of the Year: AFC Ajax and S.L. Benfica
2. Best Agent of the Year: Jorge Mendes
3. Best Club of the Year: Liverpool FC
4. Best Coach of the Year: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool FC)
5. Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Alisson Becker
6. Best Men’s Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo
7. Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City F.C. and SAP
8. Best Referee of the Year: Stephanie Frappart
9. Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atlético Madrid, Portugal’s national team)
10. Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atlético Madrid)
11. Best Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze
12. Best Young Arab Player of the Year: Achraf Hakimi
13. Kooora – Best Arab Club Award: Al Hilal SFC (Saudi Arabia)
14. Kooora – Best Arab Player Award: Abderazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
15. Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Ronaldo finished as the top scorer in UEFA competition for the fourth time in seven years, just pipping Harry Kane and Vivianne Miedema.
He led the way in all UEFA fixtures for club and country in 2013, 2014 and 2017. In 2019 seven UEFA Champions League goals for Juventus plus 14 in total for Portugal in European Qualifiers and the UEFA Nations League Finals ensured Ronaldo ended two goals clear of Harry Kane.
Earlier, Liverpool dominated the Globe Soccer Awards as Jurgen Klopp bagged the Best Coach of the Year title, Liverpool was named Best Club of the Year and
Alisson Becker won the Best Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second consecutive year.
It only took a few years for Alisson to ascend to the heights of global football, first reaching the semi-final with Roma and then winning, a year later, the European title, during his first season in England with Liverpool.
Klopp, who was in London for their Premier League game, said in sound bite during a TV interview earlier in the day: "I am thankful to the Globe Soccer for the honour. The credit goes to the team and the players.”
The CEO of Liverpool received the award in London and expressed his gratitude. Currently, Liverpool are at the top of the Premier League standings, 14-point clear of their nearest rivals Leicester. Liverpool were conferred with Best Club of the Year title, for winning the
prestigious Champions League and finishing second in the EPL.
"I want to thank Globe Soccer first of all. This award is for everyone who works here at Liverpool and it is because of their hard work we got it,” he said.
Best Revelation Player Award was bagged by Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid. Other players in this category were Anssumane Ansu, Fati Vieira, Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho. He thanked everybody and wished them Happy New Year.
Best Women’s Player of the Year was conferred to Lucy Bronze of Olympique Lyon.
Bronze took the trophy following a stellar season with Lyon in which she played an integral role in the club’s march to the French Championship, the French Cup, the Trophee des Championnes and the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
"I am thankful to the Globe Soccer for the honours. I am proud to win it and to be nominated alongside big players. I will dedicate this award to all the women in the football fraternity. They all deserve this as much as I do,” said Bronze.
Other contenders were US national soccer team’s Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, alongside Amandine Henry.
Best Referee of the Year Award went to Stephanie Frappart. After winning the award, she said: "I am really happy to be in Dubai and winning this award. I want to thank everybody who supported me.”
Andrea Berta of Atletico Madrid won the Best Sporting Director Award. He said: "I am thankful to everybody who work with me and support me. I am really happy to win this prestigious award.”
Berta along with Eric Abidal of Barcelona, Igli Tare of Lazio and Marc Overmars of AFC Ajax were in the contention for the Best Sporting Director Award category.
Best Arab Player of the Year was given to Abderazak Hamdallah of Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr for his contribution to the club across all the competitions. He expressed his gratitude and delight on receiving the award.
"I am very happy and proud to receive this award. I want to thank my club, my family and all those, who supported me in reaching here.”
Nominees for the Best Arab Player Award were Hamdallah of Al Nassr, Akram Afif of Al Saad, Salem Aldossari of Al Hilal, Tareq Hamed of Zamalek, and Youcef Belaili of Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli.
Best Partnership of the Year prize was conferred to Manchester City and SAP for their long-standing partnership. FC Barcelona and Beko; Liverpool and Standard Chartered; and Manchester City and SAP were the nominees in this category.
Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs bagged the Player’s Career Award for his exploits and contribution to the football both as a player and coach. He is currently the coach of Wales.
Giggs said: "I am thrilled and excited to receive this award. I have been with Manchester United for most of playing career.
"I played with great players and great coaches. Sir Alex Ferguson was my coach was my coach for the longest time. I want to thank everybody, who have been with me in this long journey.”
Meanwhile, Jorge Mendes won the eighth straight Agent of the Year title. Mendes is among the most influential football agents in the world, with clients including Ronaldo, David de Gea, Jose
Mourinho, Diego Costa, James Rodríguez and Joao Felix.
Mendes said: "It is a great honor to win the prestigious title for the eight times. I want to thank my family, clubs and the players who represent me.
"I specially want to thank the best young player of the world Felix and best ever player of the world Ronaldo.”
Best Young Arab Player of the Year was won by Achraf Hakimi. He plays for German club Borussia Dortmund, on loan from Real Madrid, and the Moroccon national team.
Hakimi said: "I am really happy and proud to get this award. I wan to thank my team-mates, my coaches and fans for supporting me.”
Best Arab Club of the Award went to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal for winning AFC Asian Champions League and a dominant performance in the domestic league.
The winners were chosen by the Dubai Globe Soccer Jury, a panel of leading industry experts including Fabio Capello, Antonio Conte, Eric Abidal and Luis Figo.
The Dubai Globe Soccer Awards is considered part of the ‘Grand Slam’ of football award ceremonies alongside the Ballon d’Or and the Best FIFA Football Awards.
The annual Dubai Globe Soccer Awards were established in 2010 with the aim of recognizing not just the best players and coaches, but also the people who work behind the scenes who had not previously been acknowledged.
The great success of the event over the years has seen further categories added to the awards list, and the event now honours all the best in football.