Cristiano Ronaldo on Thursday night has won the 2017 Ballon d’Or for a fifth time for his best performance this year. He finally selected to be a winner due to his success led Real Madrid to win Spanish La Liga and Champions League title.
The vote of 176 journalists from around the world allowed the 32-year-old striker to perfect his collection and to mark a little more the football history of his imprint.
The Portuguese previously won the same award in 2008, 2013, 2014, and 2016, it meand he moved level with rival Lionel Messi who had won Ballon d’Or for a fifth time 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015 edition.
“Of course I’m happy, this is something I’ve been waiting for every year,” Ronaldo told journalists after the ceremony.
“The trophy we won last year helped to win this award thanks to my team-mates at Real Madrid and I want to thank everyone who helped me reach this level.” he added.
Ronaldo grabbed two new records on Wednesday night, in the 3-2 victory against Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. With his 9th goal, the top scorer in the 2017/18 Group stage became the first player to score in the six Group matches of a Champions League edition, while equaling Messi’s record to 60 goals.
Barcelona striker Messi finished second in the voting while former his team-mate Neymar, was 3rd. The Brazilian who became the most expensive player in the world this summer after joining Paris Saint-Germain refused to say anything before awarding the trophy to Ronaldo.
Neymar and Messi eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champion League last season with Barcelona, they finished in front of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who was 4th place.
Lionel Messi, second place in the 2017 Ballon d’Or. (Source:www.thesun.co.uk)
Paris Saint-Germain Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, he finished at 7th place. The Frenchman became the youngest player to be in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or since he finished at 7th place at 18 years old, after rousing 2017, which saw him become was the second most expensive player in the world this summer.
Chelsea star N’Golo Kante, voted best player of the 2016/17, was 8th, also for his first appearance in the Ballon d’Or award. Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, was 18th after finishing 3rd place in the previous edition.
