LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United was named Footballer of the Year on Friday for an unprecedented sweep of England's three major individual soccer honors this season.
The Portugal winger finished ahead of Didier Drogba of Chelsea and team mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in the 60th vote organized by the Football Writers' Association (FWA).
"I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to win such an important award, it is a real honor," Ronaldo said.
The 22-year-old becomes the first United player to win the award since Teddy Sheringham in 2001 and the first Portuguese to land the honor.
Ronaldo was also voted Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers' Association last month.
The winger, who joined United from Sporting Lisbon for 12.2 million pounds (24.31 million U.S. dollars) in 2003, has scored 22 goals this season for United, who were knocked out of the Champions League by AC Milan on Wednesday.
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