The winner of the 2016 Ballon d'Or has been announced, and as was largely expected, Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the prize for the fourth time in a stellar career.
Of course, in winning the award, Cristiano beat his eternal rival Lionel Messi: the Argentine has won the much coveted prize a record five times, but now, Ronaldo is only one behind.
Cristiano had a sterling campaign last time out, and there won't be too many out there who would deny the fact he deserved to win the award.
By helping his club Real Madrid win the Champions League for an unbelievable 11th time in their rich and varied history, Ronaldo further cemented his name as one of the club's all-time great players - in the finalagainst city rivals Atletico Madrid, when the matchwent to penalties, it wasLos Blancos' record scorer whoultimately struckthe decisive spot kick.
As if that wasn't impressive enough, Ronaldothen went on to win Euro 2016 with his beloved Portugal.
While many will point to the fact that he missed the majority of the final due to injury, others would highlight the equally undeniable fact that Portugal wouldn't have reached the final in the first place had it not been for Ronaldo's goals earlier in the competition.
In claiming the award, Ronaldo beat out 29 other players,amongst themsuch luminaries as Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) and Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - but of course, had Ronaldo not nabbed the prize, surelythat man Lionel Messi would have.
The Barcelona forward will now have to wait a year - and hope he keeps up his usually impeccable standards - to see if he can add to his own personal trophy haul.But for now, the night belongs to one man and one man alone.