Scolari declared: "Cristiano, in my opinion, should be first.

"Only I could not vote for him because I was prevented from voting for my own players. He was third, which is a sign that he's a long way back, perhaps it's the European way of thinking.

"But I know this will act as motivation for Cristiano. However, it should also be a source of joy for him to be among the top three players in the world.

"We will try to make the most of this, Cristiano is an emerging athlete, just like Luis Figo in 2001."