Lloyd named best in the world
United States midfielder Carli Lloyd was rewarded for a stunning 2015 by being named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year.
Carli Lloyd was named as the Women's World Player of the Year for 2015 at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich.
The United States midfielder claimed the honour after an excellent year in which she helped her nation to win the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.
Lloyd scored six goals at the tournament, including a hat-trick in the 5-2 victory over Japan in the final — the highlight of which was a stunning finish from just past the halfway line.
For her exploits at the tournament Lloyd was selected as the recipient of the Golden Ball, which is awarded to the best player at the competition.
She can now add the Women's World Player of the Year to her list of individual awards, Lloyd beating Celia Sasic (Germany) and Aya Miyama (Japan) to the prize.
Lloyd said: "This has been a dream of mine ever since I started my journey with the national team. I want to thank everyone who voted for me and everyone at US soccer for their support. I honestly wouldn't be standing up here without my incredible team-mates."
Sasic, who could have been the third consecutive German to collect the honour, recorded six goals and one assist at the World Cup, winning the Golden Boot ahead of Lloyd as Germany reached the semi-finals and finished fourth.
The 27-year-old, who has now retired, also won the Champions League with FFC Frankfurt. Sasic scored 14 goals in the competition as Frankfurt beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the final.
Miyama was the creative force behind Japan's push to the World Cup final, but missed out on becoming the second Japan player to win the award as Lloyd took the top prize.
Lloyd won with 35.28 per cent of the vote, while Sasic earner 12.6 per cent and Miyama 9.88.
