LA Galaxy and Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane backs FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo

The eyes of the global soccer world were in Zurich on Monday as FIFA held it's annual FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala. The winners surprised few as world superstar Cristiano Ronaldo took home the prestigious Ballon d'Or award while German head coach Jogi Low won the FIFA Head Coach of the Year honors.

National team captains and head coaches from across the world participated in the voting including LA Galaxy captain and Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane.

For the Ballon d'Or, Keane tipped Ronaldo as his first choice, Argentina's Lionel Messi in second and his former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Gareth Bale in third. While Keane voted with the majority for his player voting, he went with a bent with his vote for the coaching honor, opting for Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti first, Atletico Madrid's Diego Simone second and finally U.S. National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann in third.

Klinsmann also had a vote for both awards, tipping Low for the coaching honor but did not side with the Irishman for the World Player of the Year, backing Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for the award. The U.S. boss spoke about his votes to reporters in Carson on Monday at the opening of the USMNT's annual Janaury camp.

"It’s a no brainer that Jogi Low was the coach of the year because he won the World Cup. I was a bit sad for Manuel Neuer because I thought he played outstanding. At the end of the day, the most important title that you can win in your career is a World Cup and he won that one," Klinsmann said. "When you talk about players like Cristiano Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi, you’re talking about top class players and you wish them all the best, and hope that they can get whatever award that they can get. But I was voting for Manuel Neuer and I was hoping that he could win, but unfortunately, he didn’t."