Barcelona star midfielder Andres Iniesta was awarded the 2014 Golden Foot award on Monday evening, beating the likes of Ballon d'OR holder Cristiano Ronaldo, Bayern Munich ace Franck Ribery, and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney.
Handed this accolade in a gala in Monaco, the Spanish midfielder became the first La Furia Roja and Blaugrana player to ever collect this prestigious award.
The 30-year-old World Cup winner, who finished ahead of other renowned players such as Manuel Neuer, Thiago Silva, Andrea Pirlo, Thierry Henry, Yaya Toure, and Brazilian women's footballer Marta Vieira Da Silva, expressed his gratitude during the ceremony and thanked everyone via Twitter.
"Thank you very much everyone for this award... Golden Foot 2014!"
Muchas gracias a todos por este premio... Golden Foot 2014! pic.twitter.com/MSnUfFjs8z
— Andrés Iniesta (@andresiniesta8) October 13, 2014
Andres Iniesta casts his footprints in mould afer being named the recipient of the 2014 Golden Foot award
Only active players of 28 years of age, or above, are eligible for this award, which was inaugurated over a decade ago back in 2003, with the first Golden Foot recipient being former Italian superstar Roberto Baggio. Once chosen as the winner, no player can be nominated again afterwards.
Iniesta, who was accompanied by his wife Anna Ortiz, alongside Barcelona's football director Andoni Zubizarreta, and his agent, joins a long list of previous winners, which includes the likes of Pavel Nedved, Ronaldo, Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Francesco Totti, Ryan Giggs, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Didier Drogba.
Hand picked by a panel of journalist on the basis of achievement and personality, Iniesta was chosen for the award through an online poll out of ten finalists, and will now forever have a mould of his footprints cast into the “Champions Parade” along Monaco's seafront.
