Ronaldo wins World Player of the Year for second time

Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world's best footballer for the second time on Monday, preventing his great rival Lionel Messi from winning the award for a fifth year in a row.

Argentine Messi, hampered by uncharacteristic injury problems at Barcelona late in the year, and Frenchman Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich were the other candidates for the prize, officially known as the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

"Thank you to everyone, my team mates, the national team and my family, to everyone here. Eusebio and Mandela were very important for me, I can't speak," an emotional Ronaldo said at the awards ceremony.

Jupp Heynckes, now retired, was named coach of the year for the first time after his Bayern Munich team won an unprecedented Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble.

Ronaldo was also voted FIFA Player of the Year in 2008, before Messi began a run of four successive titles.

In 2010 and 2011, the award was fused with the Ballon D'Or award previously handed out by France Football magazine.

Although Ronaldo did not win any major titles last season, he has been unable to stop scoring goals.

The 28-year-old has 20 La Liga goals this season for Real Madrid and netted a record nine times in the Champions League group stage.

The high point of his year, however, came with Portugal when he scored a stunning hat-trick and almost single-handedly beat Sweden 3-1 in the second leg of their World Cup playoff tie to send his country through to the finals.

The team of the year featured Manuel Neuer in goal, Philipp Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva and Dani Alves in defence, midfielders Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Ribery with Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Messi in attack.

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Too many foreign coaches in England, says Mourinho

 There are too many foreign coaches in the Premier League and British candidates should be given more opportunities, Chelsea's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho has said.

"In this moment in the Premier League - and I'm speaking against myself - I disagree with so many foreign coaches in this country," Mourinho told British media.

"I don't see a reason for that because I don't feel the English managers are in any point behind the foreign ones.

"But I think if there are no jobs in the country as a manager or a player then you have to go (abroad) because this is a short professional life. So go and enjoy. You always have the chance to come back as a manager and a player."

There are now nine foreign managers from outside Britain and Ireland in the top flight after Cardiff City this week named Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace Scot Malky Mackay. There were none in 1992 when the Premier League was launched.

West Bromwich Albion have been considering appointing a Spaniard, ex-Osasuna manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, to succeed another sacked Scot Steve Clarke, British media have reported.

"I have to say, the ones that are coming, and I can analyse (them) one by one, all of them are good coaches and good people and they try to do good jobs for them and for their clubs," Mourinho was quoted as saying in The Independent on Sunday.

"So I'm not saying these people are not top people or people that don't deserve to be here the same way I deserve to be here. I just feel sorry that in a football country like England, that is the country of so many managers, they (British managers) are not getting enough jobs in this country.

"At the end of the day, influence from abroad is good, you can learn the differences from other cultures, but I think the main culture has to be always the English, or in this case the British culture," he added.

Mourinho believes more British coaches should go abroad to develop their skills and he praised Derby County's former England coach Steve McClaren, whose in-form Championship (second division) side host Chelsea in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.

"If you ask me, the first thing that comes to my memory about Steve is not being the England manager but being a champion in Holland. So I think he did well...," he said, referring to McClaren's 2010 league triumph with Twente FC.

"In this country people shouldn't be afraid to be a bit adventurous, like other coaches from other nationalities are," added Mourinho, who is in his second stint at Chelsea, having initially joined the club from Porto in 2004 before then managing Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

"In Portugal, people say there are lots of Portuguese coaches working abroad and I opened the door for them. People are not afraid to go and find a future in other countries."

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Tsonga powers France to maiden Hopman Cup victory

 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga powered France to their first Hopman Cup title against tournament debutants Poland on Saturday.

The strapping Frenchman gave his side the lead with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Grzegorz Panfil, then partnered Alize Cornet to a 6-0 6-2 over Agnieszka Radwanska and Panfil in the deciding mixed doubles rubber at the Perth Arena.

World number five Radwanska had levelled the final when she edged out Cornet in three sets.

France, runners-up at the team format event in 1998 and 2012, got off to a good start when world number 10 Tsonga saw off a spirited challenge from Panfil.

Tsonga took the first set in less than 30 minutes but could not convert any of the seven breakpoints that came his way in the second as Pantil struck back.

He never looked like losing, however, and was largely untroubled in the deciding set.

Radwanska also comfortably won the first set and led 5-3 in the next before Cornet overcame some breathing troubles and claimed the second after 80 minutes of fierce battle.

Radwanska eventually won 6-3 6-7 6-2 against her drained opponent who was given a time violation.

"I was trying to tell the chair umpire not to give me a time violation," Cornet said. "I was like 'I can't breathe'. He didn't see it unfortunately.

"Fortunately I got my breath back a few seconds after and I could continue."

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