Barcelona star Ronaldino clinched the Best Player of the Year award for the second consecutive time in the FIFA World Player Gala ceremony that took place in the Zurich Opera House in Germany on Monday. The Brazilian ace came first in the world vote with a tally of 956 points, a staggering 650 points ahead of England's and Chelsea's Frank Lampard who came at second place with 306 points, while Barcelona team-mate Samuel Eto'o came in third place with 190 points. National team head coaches and teak captains from all over the world took part in choosing this year's FIFA Best Player of the World as opposed to last year where only the coaches voted. In the women's category, German star Birgit Prinz topped her own record and was named Best Player of the Year for the third consecutive time in her career. Only Brazil's Ronaldo and France's Zinedine Zidane have won the men's award on three separate occasions, in 1996, 1997, 2002 and in 1998, 2000, 2003 respectively. Prinz topped the votes with a tally of 513 points, only 84 votes ahead of second-place Brazil player Marta who tallied at 429 points, while USA ace Shannon Boxx came in at third place with 235 points. The extravagant ceremony was hosted by former Miss Switzerland Lolita Morena and former Arsenal ace Ian Wright.
