Here it is then.

After the slow reveal, the final flutter of the veil to the flo
or. The Guardian s top 100 footballer s in the world 2014 is now published in its en
tirety, the final step the unmasking of a top ten that contains few surprises, b
ut which provides all the same a fascinating reflection of the footballing year.
Once again the big story is the same old story. The two-man arm-wrestle at the s
ummit of international football s individual awards has this year turned decisivel
y Cristiano Ronaldo s way. This is of course a well-seasoned and largely irresolva
ble debate, with battle lines drawn along club lines, issues of style, and even
a skewed and incoherent sub-debate about natural and manufactured high-grade creat
ive footballers (which still isn t clear to this observer).
What is certain is that taking the year as a whole Ronaldo has been the single d
ominant figure, a phenomenal influence in the world s champion club team, with 56
goals in 51 matches overall, along with league title, Champions League and Club
World Club medals for Real Madrid.
And here at
be made. As
countries,
the expert

least his supremacy is a clear consensus rather than an argument to

a reminder, the top 100 list is a product of 73 judges drawn from 28
with Hernn Crespo, Didi Hamann, Slaven Bilic and Gilberto Silva among
panel.

At the end of which Ronaldo is now No1 in the world, as voted by 74% of those in
volved. It has been a steady reeling in of top spot. In 2012 Messi was the No1 p
ick by a 100% monopoly vote. Last year Messi was No1 by a 60% majority. This yea
r Messi got just 12% of the vote, despite continuing to perform miracles of inci
sion in La Liga and being enthroned (dubiously, and instantly disowned by Messi
himself) as player of the 2014 World Cup finals.