Cristiano Ronaldo wins Uefa's Best Player in Europe Award

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo won Uefa's
Best Player in Europe Award ahead of Bayern
Munich pair Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben.
Portugal captain Ronaldo, 29, scored a record 17
goals to help Madrid win the Champions League last
season.
"I'm really happy so I must say thanks to my team-
mates because without the team, individual awards
would not be possible," he said.
Ronaldo beat Neuer and Robben in a vote from a
panel of 54 journalists.
Past winners of Uefa's Best Player in Europe
Award
2010-11 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
2011-12 Andres Iniesta
(Barcelona)
2012-13 Franck Ribery (Bayern
Munich)
Goalkeeper Neuer, 28, helped Germany win the
World Cup, while Robben, 30, scored 21 goals for
Bayern and three for the Netherlands on their way to
the semi-final in Brazil.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Portugal beat play-off
opponents Sweden to reach the tournament, but
failed to shine as his nation were eliminated at the
group stage.
However, his club performances were enough to
convince the voting panel, who had to choose from
the trio after a shortlist of 10 was cut down earlier
this month.
The ex-Manchester United player scored 51 goals in
as many games as Madrid became European
champions for a record 10th time to complete 'La
Decima'. Carlo Ancelotti's men also won the Spanish
Copa del Rey but finished third in La Liga.
"Winning La Decima was amazing, something that
Madrid had looked to do for many years. As Madrid
players we feel as though you have to win the
Champions League. It was a fantastic season - we
won the Champions League, the Spanish Cup and the
Uefa Super Cup," Ronaldo said.
"Our target is to win it again - the Champions
League, the Cup the League - everything."
The rest of the top 10 was already decided after the
first round of voting and included ex-Liverpool
forward Luis Suarez.
They are: 4 Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich,
Germany); 5= Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich,
Germany), 5= Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina); 7
James Rodriguez (Monaco/Real Madrid, Colombia); 8
Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Barcelona, Uruguay); 9 Angel
Di Maria (Real Madrid/Manchester United, Argentina);
10 Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid/Chelsea, Spain).