United States' Carli Lloyd Named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year

The culmination of 13 years of hard work came together on Monday for one crowning moment when Carli Lloyd was named the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year. The United States midfielder was selected over finalists Aya Miyama of Japan, and Celia Sasic of Germany, at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich.

"We started this journey 13 years ago and you told me I could become the best player in the world," Lloyd said during her acceptance speech, in reference to her trainer James Galanis, via ESPN. "Now I can thank you for that."

Lloyd got more than 35% of the vote, voted on by national team coaches, captains, and selected journalists. Sasich finished in second with almost 13% of the votes, while Miyama rounded out the top 3 with just under 10%.

The award was was never really in question. Lloyd's play on the field dictated that. She led the United States women to the World Cup title this past summer in Canada, winning the tournaments Golden Ball (an award for the best player of the tournament) along the way. And, in the final against Japan, Lloyd scored a hat-trick within the first 20-minutes of the game, sending the United States well on their way to a convincing 5-2 win.

And while the spotlight was squarely on her on Monday in Zurich, she refused to take credit for the accomplishment. Instead, she complimented her teammates, coaches, U.S. Soccer, and, well, generally everyone. She had this to saw in a statement released by U.S. Soccer, via Yahoo! Sports:

"We all know that individual honors come from being a part of great teams," Lloyd said. "And I want to thank all my teammates and coaches and the many people who have helped me along the way. It was a memorable year for all of us and I want to thank U.S. Soccer for their tremendous support of our national team, as well as FIFA and everyone who voted. Now, we're all looking forward to the hard work it will take to achieve more success and continuing to push the women's game to greater heights."