Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has completely snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in his selections for The Best FIFA Men's Player of 2016.
Ronaldo was crowned the winner at the awards ceremony, which took place in Zurich on Monday, but he had no support from O'Neill, who ranked the Real Madrid star's team-mate Gareth Bale as the world's best player in 2016.
Indeed, the Ireland boss found no room for Ronaldo, nor Barcelona forward Messi in his choices, with Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and former Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kante completing his top three.
While O'Neill's choices veered dramatically from convention, Ireland captain Seamus Coleman was more in line with the general consensus, with the Everton defender choosing Ronaldo, Messi and Luis Suarez as his top three players in 2016.
O'Neill and Coleman were agreed on who should be crowned The Best FIFA Men's Coach of the Year, however, with both giving eventual winner Claudio Ranieri their first preference vote.
Coleman also voted for Portugal coach Fernando Santos and Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane, while O'Neill went for Santos and Wales manager Chris Coleman in his selection.
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