The world may have had their eyes on them, but the two best players in world football had their eyes on something else and it was not the Ballon d’Or.
As Crisitano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi competed for FIFA’s best male player award at the ceremony in Zurich last night, something else seemed to have captured their attention and it was none other than Irish footballer, Stephanie Roche.
Ronaldo and Messi looked visibly in awe as Stephanie Roche walked by them to take her seat ahead of the FIFA Gala yesterday evening. Republic of Ireland international Roche was up for the Puskas Award for her stunning goal in October 2013 in a low-key match for Peamount United against Wexford Youth.
According to The Independent, Roche revealed that she enjoyed the attention shown to her by the Real Madrid and Barcelona forwards, with Ronaldo going on to beat Messi in the battle for the 2014 Ballon d’Or.
Roche also retweeted a picture of the Barcelona and Real Madrid stars visibly staring at her.
AH LADS! Picture of The Day From The #BallondOr With @StephanieRoche9 #StephanieRoche pic.twitter.com/EJIr003tfK
— Her.ie (@Herdotie) January 12, 2015