Ronaldo caps dream year with fourth Ballon d'Or

PARIS, France -- Cristiano Ronaldo called it "a dream come true again" as he won his fourth Ballon d'Or on Monday to get one over his nemesis Lionel Messi for the title of best player in the world.

It was the perfect ending to another fantastic year for the Real Madrid star, who won the Champions League for the second time in three seasons and then led Portugal to their first major title at Euro 2016 -- albeit he went off early injured and in tears in the surprise victory over France.

As has been the case for almost a decade now, the 31-year-old's main rival was Messi -- but the Barcelona and Argentine maestro had to relinquish the crown after a less-than-stellar year for club and country by his lofty standards.

Ronaldo is now one Ballon d'Or behind Messi, who was second this time with French striker Antoine Griezmann third.

Never one to play down his achievements, Ronaldo was spotted midweek in training having dyed his hair gold in anticipation and several media outlets published a photo earlier on Monday appearing to confirm he was the winner, before organisers France Football magazine made the official announcement.

"For me it's a great honour to receive my fourth Ballon d'Or. The emotion is like the first one -- it's a dream come true again," Ronaldo, who is at the Club World Cup in Japan, told L'Equipe TV.

"I never thought in my mind to win four times the Ballon d'Or, I'm so pleased and so happy.

"I have to thank all my team-mates, the national team, Real Madrid, all the people, the players who helped me to win this individual trophy.

"I want to enjoy this moment because it's not easy to win this."

Fourth was Luis Suarez and fifth his fellow Barcelona attacker Neymar, with Ronaldo's Welsh team-mate Gareth Bale sixth.

- 'Sensational year' -

Ronaldo was the firm favourite to win, but the prestigious prize comes at a time when the prolific forward has generated negative headlines in the past week over accusations of tax evasion.

Denying any wrongdoing, he responded by publishing his financial records last week, showing last year he earned a whopping 227 million euros ($240 million).

"You believe I am worried? He who owes nothing, fears nothing," Ronaldo told broadcaster RTP at the time.

Ronaldo, the highest-paid sportsman in the world, first won the Ballon d'Or in 2008 after Premier League and Champions League triumphs with Manchester United.

But it was only in 2013 that he added his second -- Messi had hogged it before then -- and Ronaldo made it a hat-trick the following year.

United were quick to offer their congratulations on Twitter, calling a fourth Ballon d'Or "incredible".

Real said Ronaldo, who last month signed a bumper new five-year contract, had enjoyed "a sensational year".

The first Ballon d'Or was won by Stanley Matthews, at the time with Blackpool, who beat Alfredo Di Stefano for the inaugural title in 1956.

The Ballon d'Or is decided by a vote of 173 journalists.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Making the Ballon d’Or truly global

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named winner of the 2013 Ballon d’Or award. It is the second time in his career that the Portuguese winger has won the coveted award. The first was in 2008 when he was still playing for Manchester United. The 2013 award is his first with Real Madrid.

There are some who feel that Lionel Messi should have won it for a fourth consecutive time given his exploits and Barcelona winning another La Liga title (one that Real Madrid was unable to defend).

There are others who feel that Franck Ribery, that talented Frenchman playing for Bayern Munich, should have been given the nod since the German powerhouse team pretty much won everything.

The Ballon d’Or is simply for the best footballer in the world, while football is a team sport and any success will rely with the other 10 teammates on the field, the coach as well as the reserves.

There is the World Club Championship, the Euros and such and, of course, the World Cup to determine the best teams. The Ballon d’Or is for the best player. It is a democratic award given that players, coaches and media have a say who brings home this prestigious award.

Nevertheless, my concern about this award is that it is open to too much interpretation. The Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga are shown pretty much everywhere. While they are arguably the best leagues in the world with players from all over the world playing in them, are the finalists truly representative of the best?

Maybe to make it truly the best player in the world, the football federations from the five different continents nominate a couple of players representative from their region. Maybe it’s time to take into account more stats other than goals scored or saves. Completed passes, tackles, or even defensive stops should also be officially taken as stats.

How was Fabio Cannavaro voted as winner in 2006? Because of one World Cup?

Is the voting body truly representative from the world? The voters should be duly accredited media persons and not just anyone. They simply cannot cast anonymous votes in order to determine if the system is flawed (for example will the Asian football writers vote for Asians only or be open-minded).

While goal-scoring is always more important or even sexier than a tackle, how about the guy who keeps feeding you the ball? While everyone is aware of what Xavi or Iniesta can do because of Messi’s brilliance, they are – can you believe this – bypassed? How many of those goals scored by CR7 and Messi were solo sorties? How may came off passes by their midfielders?

This isn’t to denigrate the accomplishments of Ronaldo or Messi. I remain fans of both. Expanding the statistics would make the voting more sensible. And the Ballon d’Or winner more deserving.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com