Megan Rapinoe continues her glorious year with a Ballon d'Or

Megan Rapinoe won the women's Ballon D'Or on Monday evening, after a stellar year on and off the football pitch which saw her lift the Women's World Cup in the summer. 

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Rapinoe wins 

Rapinoe was not present at the ceremony. In a video message, she said, "It’s a bummer [not to be there]. I congratulate all the nominees, I can’t believe I’m the one winning it. I want to thank my teammates, my coaches, my federation, to allow to be the person who I am on the field and off the field. Thank you to my beautiful girlfriend Sue. I’m so sorry I can’t be there, I know it’s going to be insane but I’ll do my best to get back there next year."

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Lucy Bronze, Alex Morgan, Ada Hegerberg, Vivianne Miedema, Wendie Renard, Sam Kerr, Rose Lavelle,  Ellen White, and Dzsenifer Marozsan, completed the top 10 list. 

Rapinoe has been a Champion on the field, however, she has taken active steps to fight injustices in the game and as well as those outside the world of football. Rapinoe has spoken about LGBTQ+ rights and equal pay. Earlier this year in March, she was a participant in a lawsuit filed by the US Women's National team against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) on the grounds of 'unequal pay'. All 28 players in the squad had filed a discrimination lawsuit. 

During the World Cup, Rapinoe also refused to visit the White House, and that created a storm with President Trump tweeting that she should 'win' something before talking about a White House invitation.

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She also won the Golden Boot and the Golden Boy award at the World Cup. She won the FIFA Women's Player of the Year award in September as well. 

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(With inputs from agencies)