Hello there and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of this evening's 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or ceremony in Zurich. What a night for world football as the great and the good gather in Switzerland to see who will be crowned the world's best player over the past 12 months.
There are nine awards up for grabs in total, but most eyes will be on the final accolade to be handed out as
Lionel Messi,
Cristiano Ronaldo and
Franck Ribery do battle to be named the number one footballer on the planet.
The safe money is on Ronaldo following his exploits for Real Madrid and Portugal over the past 12 months, but you would be a fool to rule out Lionel Messi receiving the award for a fifth consecutive year. Meanwhile, Franck Ribery has had a stellar year for Bayern Munich and France. Can the winger cause an upset tonight?
Those attending the ceremony have been filtering into the auditorium via the red carpet, all the while having their pictures taken by FIFA's in-house photographer. Not sure if this one is Ronaldo or a waxwork.
The names of Messi, Ronaldo and Ribery were whittled down from an original list of 23 players that included Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie and Yaya Toure. Votes were made by coaches and captains of all international teams, while a select group of journalists also took part in the voting process.
As mentioned before, there are also eight other awards being presented tonight but those will be explained when we get to them. To give you a taster, the FIFpro World XI, the Fair Play Award and the Puskas Award will all be in the spotlight.
Anyway, the ceremony has official begun! These FIFA events are usually tedious, drawn-out affairs, but the organisers have assured us that it will be a fairly streamlined event. We will see...
Our hosts for tonight are Ruud Gullit and Brazilian supermodel Fernanda Lima. This is awkward.
The first award of the night will be the FIFpro World XI. Let's see who makes the team of the year...
FIFpro World XI:
Goalkeeper:
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany)
Defenders:
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich and Germany)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain)
Thiago Silva (PSG and Brazil)
Dani Alves (Barcelona and Brazil)
Midfielders:
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain)
Xavi (Barcelona and Spain)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France)
Forwards:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG and Sweden)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
Well, that's some team. There can be no doubting that all of those players deserve their places in the FIFpro World XI. There's currently an incredible lineup of talent on stage as the winners stand together.
Next up is the Presidential Award. This is handed out by FIFA president Sepp Blatter for "a person or institution that has made a superlative contribution to football without seeking to monopolise the limelight". Blatter is on stage now ready to welcome the winner.
The winner of the FIFA Presidential Award for 2013 is... former International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge. The Belgian allows a small smile to pass across his face as he steps onto the stage, though one can only imagine how many of these kind of events he has attended in the past. We're now being treated to a video of Rogge looking serious as words like 'Visionary' and 'Diplomat' appear on the screen.
We're now being treated to a video montage looking ahead to this summer's World Cup in Brazil. Needless to say, there are plenty of shots of sun-kissed beaches and kids kicking balls about with the kind of joie de vivre that the country is known for.
Ronaldo (the rotund one), Neymar, supermodel Adriana Lima and FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke are currently all on the stage essentially selling the World Cup to the wider world. I'm assuming that this part of the show is being funded by the Brazilian tourism board.
A poignant moment in the ceremony now as we are shown a video looking back at the life of the late, great Eusebio. The Portuguese superstar sadly passed away on January 5 at the age of 71. The former forward won the Ballon d'Or in 1965.
Our next award is for the FIFA Women's Coach of the Year. The three nominees are Wolfsburg's Ralf Kellermann, Germany's Silvia Neid, and Sweden's Pia Sundhage. As a nice surprise, England boss Roy Hodgson is here to present the award.
And the FIFA Women's Coach of the Year for 2013 is... Germany coach Silvia Neid! The 49-year-old has been in the role since 2005.
Now it's the turn of the FIFA Men's Coach of the Year. The nominees are Sir Alex Ferguson, Jupp Heynckes, and Jurgen Klopp. Roy Hodgson has kept his place on the stage to announce that the winner is... Jupp Heynckes! It really does not come as a surprise to see the German confirmed as the recipient of the trophy after winning the treble with Bayern Munich last season before announcing his retirement.
Former Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes:
"I'm tremendously thankful to be here to pick up this award today. It means a lot to pick up an award right at the end of my career. Normally in team sports it is often difficult to put things together like this. It isn't just down to me this is down to the whole club, Bayern Munich, everybody that has been working with me during this period.
"We have been blessed with world class players and they produced amazing performances. The coaching staff have also lent their weight. I want to thank everybody that has pulled together and helped me to produce this winning team.
"Maybe ten years ago, I wouldn't even have dreamt of this. I am humbled and happy to be standing here. Thank you very much."
We now have Swiss-Brazilian musician Marc Sway on the stage with his band to provide a musical interlude. If you want to know what the song that they're playing sounds like, imagine the typical, inoffensive pap that FIFA like to pump out at tournaments to try to get everyone involved.
Well, that was just painful. You'd have thought that FIFA could have got an act with a bit more oomph. Anyway, on with the show. As we're treated to a video of Brazil's history at the World Cup, the next award will be the Fair Play Award.
Representatives from Brazil's five World Cup wins are now on stage. We have Pele, Amarildo, Bebeto and Cafu stood in line to answer questions from Ruud Gullit.
Right, here we go with the FIFA Fair Play Award. This is in recognition of good or sporting behaviour in the sport.
And the winner of the FIFA Fair Play Award is... the Afghanistan Football Federation. The Federation did something special last year as they re-established their Premier League while giving the national team support on the international stage.
As we head towards the final straight of tonight's gala, the next award is the Puskas Award. The shortlist has been whittled down to three spectacular goals, including strikes from Neymar and Nemanja Matic, but the winner is Zlatan Ibrahomvic's outrageous overhead kick for Sweden against England from November 2012.
In case you might have missed the goal from the mercurial Swede, here it is...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
"I am very proud to be here tonight and I'd like to congratulate all the other nominees. Good luck to the guys for the big award later. I want to thank all the people who voted."
The next award is the FIFA Special Award. It is the first time that this honour has been bestowed on anyone and it's being presented this year with the 2014 Brazil World Cup in mind. And the winner is... the inimitable Pele.
The Brazilian maestro gets a standing ovation from everyone in the room as he emerges to receive the award. It's an emotional moment for the 73-year-old as he starts to break down in tears.
Those in the auditorium have just been treated to a video of Pele's greatest moments. In the interest of fairness, here's one for you folks at home:
Right, down to the serious stuff. The next award is for the Women's World Player of the Year. The three nominees are Marta da Silva, Abby Wambach and Nadine Angerer.
NADINE ANGERER WINS FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR 2013
There's little argument for Nadine Angerer winning the Women's World Player of the Year Award following her exploits with Germany at the 2013 European Championships. The 35-year-old saved two penalties in the final against Norway as the Germans went on to lift the trophy following a 1-0 triumph.
Here we go then. It's the big one. Will it be Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Franck Ribery who wins the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or? We're being shown a video of the nominees one last time before the winner is announced. Who will it be?...
CRISTIANO RONALDO WINS THE 2013 FIFA BALLON D'OR
Cristiano Ronaldo bows his head in relief as much as surprise as he is announced the winner of the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or. He has been simply sensational over the past 12 months. It is the second time that he has been presented with the famous trophy after first receiving it in 2008 while with Manchester United.
Ronaldo, who has brought his son up on stage to collect the award, is in tears as he dedicates his win the the late Eusebio.
Cristiano Ronaldo:
"First of all I have to say a great thanks to all of my team-mates with the club and the national team. Without all of their efforts this would not have been possible. I am very happy, it is very difficult to win this award.
"Everybody that has been involved with me on a personal level I have to thank. My wife, my friends, my son. It is a tremendously emotional moment. All I can say is thank you to everybody that has been involved."
Anyway, that's all from me but don't forget that you can keep up to date with all of the reaction from tonight's ceremony right here on Sports Mole. Thank you very much for your company, and we hope to see you again soon. Goodbye!
