Lionel Messi wins ‘Player of the Year’ award as Cristiano Ronaldo snubs Event
Megan Rapinoe bags Women's honour
Milan (Italy), Sep 24: Barcelona star striker Lionel Messi won the men's best player while US forward Megan Rapinoe took home the women's award at the Best FIFA Football Awards which took place in a glittering ceremony at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Messi, who helped Barcelona win La Liga and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, won the player of the year award for a sixth time as Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk missed out on the top prize late on Monday.
Earlier, the Argentine had won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Rapinoe was rewarded at the FIFA Best awards for leading the US to the women's World Cup title in July. She scored six goals in the tournament, earning her the Golden Boot for the tournament's top scorer and the Golden Ball as the top player.
The Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year Lionel Messi and The Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year Megan Rapinoe were the night’s big winners. | Source: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp was awarded with men's coach of the year award. Klopp coached Liverpool to the Champions League title last season, as well as a record-breaking second-place finish in the Premier League. The Reds also currently top this season's table too.
In the women's category, US national team coach Jill Ellis won the top prize after taking her side all the way in the World Cup this summer. Ellis is the only women's coach to win the World Cup twice.
Sari van Veenendaal was named the inaugural best women's goalkeeper, joining her custodian counterpart Alisson who picked up best men''s goalkeeper award.
The Puskas Award for the best goal of the year went to 18-year-old Daniel Zsori for his spectacular 93rd-minute overhead kick for Debrecen against Ferencvaros, just after he came on as a substitute for his Hungarian league debut in February.
The FIFA Fair Play award was taken home by Marcelo Bielsa and the Leeds United squad, after the Argentinean coach and his team ultimately sacrificed promotion for his team to uphold the values of fair play instructing his Leeds United team to allow an equaliser after his side had gone 1-0 up with an opposition player down injured.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
