CARLI, MESSI BEST OF THE LOT IN 2015

Lionel Messi has won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for the best player in the world for the fifth time, while US midfielder Carli Lloyd has claimed her first-ever FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award. FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique Martínez and US national team coach Jill Ellis have also been named for the first time as FIFA World Coaches of the Year for Men’s and Women’s Football respectively.

The winners were chosen by the coaches and captains of the national teams as well as by international media representatives invited by FIFA and France Football. The entire electoral procedure was overseen and monitored by Price waterhouse Coopers Switzerland (PwC).
The awards were presented on Monday evening (11 January 2016) during a 90-minute show at Zurich’s Kongresshaus that was hosted by Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt and British journalist Kate Abdo.

  THE WINNERS

FIFA Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi
The FC Barcelona No10 was an influential figure in all the titles claimed by Los Culés in 2015: La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Scorer of 48 goals in all competitions over the course of the calendar year, during the 2014/15 season he was La Liga’s second-highest scorer (43 goals) and leading assist provider (21). He was also the joint leading scorer (10, along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar) and assist supplier (6) in that term’s Champions League. What’s more, Messi picked up a silver medal with Argentina at the Copa America Chile 2015.

FIFA Women's World Player of the Year: Carli Lloyd
In 2008, Carli Lloyd scored the only goal in the final of the Women's Olympic Football Tournament as USA beat Brazil after extra time. Four years later, she made the difference again in London, finding the net twice in a 2-1 victory against Japan. Despite those feats, she missed out on the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award both times, finishing behind Marta and Abby Wambach. That left the attacking midfielder knowing she would need to do even better in 2015 – and she responded with a hat-trick in the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™, including a wonderful goal from the halfway line that helped earn her the adidas Golden Ball and adidas Silver Boot. So often decisive when the stakes are high, Lloyd was one of the major architects of USA's third World Cup title and followed up by scoring in nine consecutive games. Now 33, the Houston Dash player has reached the peak of her powers at just the right time, with the Stars and Stripes adapting to life without a legend after Wambach's retirement. Newly crowned as the 2015 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, Lloyd appears more than capable of picking up the baton. FIFA

Puskás Award: Wendell Lira

As he strode into the opposition penalty area, Wendell Lira exchanged a quick glance with his team-mate on the ball, who promptly lofted a pass over the defence. Without breaking his stride, the forward twisted around and leapt into the air to connect and bury a wonderful bicycle-kick. The goalscorer will no doubt long remember that moment on 11 March, and not simply because it put Goianesia ahead against Atletico-GO in a Goias state championship game they eventually won 2-1.
Above all, that acrobatic finish has earned him the 2015 FIFA Puskás Award, with second place in the vote going to Argentina's Lionel Messi, while Italian international Alessandro Florenzicame in third. Lira becomes the latest player to collect this award after Cristiano Ronaldo (2009), Hamit Altintop (2010), Neymar (2011), Miroslav Stoch (2012), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2013) and James Rodriguez (2014).

FIFA World Coach of the Year (Men's): Luis Enrique
For Luis Enrique, being recognised as the FIFA Men’s Football Coach of the Year is the icing on the cake of a splendid 2015. The 45-year-old Asturias-born coach could barely have imagined a finer first season in the always demanding and high-pressure FC Barcelona hotseat, passing a stern test with flying colours. And having guided the Catalan outfit to their second ever Liga-Copa del Rey-UEFA Champions League treble, Los Culés racking up club-record numbers in the process, he subsequently bolstered his credentials by adding the UEFA Super Cup to the Barça trophy cabinet. Luis Enrique’s side would end the calendar year having lifted five of the six titles available. Yet Luis Enrique is also able to look beyond the act of collecting silverware. “Normally people are drawn to winning teams, but I think in the case of Barça that bond is also strengthened by the way those titles are won, and it’s something we hope to keep encouraging,” he said, following his side’s triumph at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015.




FIFA World Coach of the Year (Women's): Jill Ellis

“I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.” While these may have been Jill Ellis' words after USA's near-unbelievable final performance in winning the FIFA Women's World Cup back in July 2015, they likely will have fit the bill as she was handed the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football award. Having taken the reins of the Stars and Stripes in a permanent capacity in 2014, the pressure was on for her to end their 16-year wait for Women's World Cup glory in Canada, backed by legions of fans who had made the short journey across the border. She duly delivered and her efforts have been rewarded at Kongresshaus in front of the biggest names in world football.FIFA 

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