Skip to main content

Ronaldo pips Messi to win Ballon d'Or for joint-record fifth time

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or for world player of the year for a joint-record fifth time, going level with eternal rival and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi as the player to have won the prize the most times.

The Real Madrid forward won the award, handed out by magazine France Football, for the second consecutive year having led his side to the La Liga title with 25 goals and a successive Champions League crown, netting 12 goals including two in the 4-1 win over Juventus in the final.

Ronaldo collected the trophy in a glitzy ceremony at the Eiffel Tower in the French capital, presented by former France player David Ginola.

"I feel very happy, it’s a fantastic moment in my career," Ronaldo said upon collecting the award, standing with his mother Maria Dolores and his oldest son Cristiano Jr.

"I've waited a long time for this. This has been a stupendous year for me, we won the Champions League and La Liga and on a personal level I was top scorer in the Champions League.

"Trophies help me win prizes like this and I have to thank my team-mates at Madrid and Portugal. They’ve been very important to me."

Messi came second while Paris St Germain forward Neymar Jr, the most expensive player in the world, came third; veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon finished fourth and Real midfielder Luka Modric came fifth.

Chelsea and France midfielder N'Golo Kante was the highest ranked Premier League player, coming eighth, while Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane, ranked 10th, was the only English player to make it into the top 10.

Ronaldo, who this year also helped the national side qualify for the World Cup in Russia next year, won his first Ballon d‘Or in 2008 while with Manchester United and collected it again in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

The 32-year-old was last month named the Best FIFA Men's Player in the global soccer body's own awards ceremony.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez joined Ronaldo on stage and paid tribute to the Portuguese, who he said was the best player of all time alongside late Real great Alfredo di Stefano.

"This fifth Ballon d‘Or is a great honour and a great achievement for the club and Real Madrid fans around the world. Cristiano is the best player in the world, he represents the values of Real Madrid. Cristiano is the best player in history along with Di Stefano, he is his heir," Perez said.

The Ballon d‘Or was first awarded in 1956 and was partnered with FIFA from 2010 to 2015, until becoming its own entity once again.



via Sify.com http://ift.tt/2j5kATd
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India withdraw Smith protest as boards make peace in DRS row

India have withdrawn an official protest about the actions of Australia captain Steve Smith in the second test as the governing bodies of both countries moved to bring an end to the acrimony surrounding the ongoing four-match series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier registered a complaint to the International Cricket Council (ICC) over Smith looking to the dressing room for guidance on whether to review an lbw decision during the Bengaluru match. Despite the hosts winning the test to level the series at 1-1 on Tuesday, India skipper Virat Kohli alleged the tourists had indulged in the practice throughout the match, sparking a war of words in the media and a robust response from Australia. The boards released a joint statement on Friday saying the chief executives of both bodies had met in Mumbai on Thursday and agreed to try and bring the focus "back to the game" ahead of next week's third test in Ranchi. "India has always cherished a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Phoenix' Dhoni may rise from the ashes one last time!

In mythology, the phoenix is a bird which can rise from the dead repeatedly. In the Harry Potter series, the phoenix Fawkes stays in the background but keeps saving the day again and again. “They (phoenixes) can carry immensely heavy loads,” said Albus Dumbledore in the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Now that already sounds like our good ole MS Dhoni who just stepped down as ODI and international T20 captain. Dhoni took over captaincy of all formats of the game in 2008. He held on to them for a good six odd years till 2014. During that period, he excelled simultaneously at the following roles… 1. Captain (remaining as cool as a cucumber under immense pressure). 2. Wicket-keeper (ever alert, effecting dismissals unthinkable for an average keeper). 3. Batsman (always saving the team at the last moment and many a time ending the match with a clean six). Of the Test team, ODI team, international T20 team and even the Chennai Super Kings! Count all the matc...
Post a Comment
Read more

AB de Villiers becomes top ranked batsman in ODIs

Dubai: South Africa's star batsman AB de Villiers on Friday regained the top spot in the ICC player rankings for One-Day International batsmen after leading the list of run-scorers in the recent series against New Zealand. De Villiers's 262 runs in the series, including a highest of 85 in the third ODI at Wellington, have helped him overtake Australia opener David Warner at the top of the ladder, reclaiming the top spot within two months of losing it to India captain Virat Kohli, according to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) statement. The 33-year-old batsman is on 875 points, four points ahead of Warner and 23 clear of Kohli. Among other batsmen, England's Joe Root and Alex Hales are major gainers as they have reached career-best rankings. Root has reached fourth spot after scoring 195 runs including 101 in the final match in Bridgetown against West Indies while Hales, who knocked up 110 in the same match, his fifth century in the last 20 ODIs, has gained...
Post a Comment
Read more