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Madrid's forward Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, holds his "best player of the year" trophy during the UEFA Champions League draw at the Grimaldi Forum, in Monaco on Thursday. (AP/PTI)[/caption]
Monaco, August 25 (IANS): Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named the UEFA Player of the Year here.
Ronaldo, who took the award on Thursday night, helped Real win the UEFA Champions League for a second successive time last season and also won European Championships with Portugal last year.
Ronaldo was shortlisted along with Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon and FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the award.
Ronaldo scored five goals in the quarterfinal victory over Bayern Munich, with a hat trick in the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Lieke Martens was named UEFA Women's Player of the Year after leading the Netherlands to the 2017 Women's Euro title this summer on home soil.
Other awards won on Thursday night:
Best Goalkeeper of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus);
Best Defender of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid);
Best Midfielder of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Luka Modric (Real Madrid);
Best Forward of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League season: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).