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Cristiano Ronaldo Wins 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or

By Mike Dyce

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Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo won his second consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

Cristiano Ronaldo won his second consecutive FIFA Ballon d’Or Award on Monday, beating out Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The award is handed out to the best soccer player in the world based on the previous calendar year, not at the conclusion of a season during the summer.

“I would like to thank all of those who voted for me,” Ronaldo said. “It has been an incredible year. I would like to continue the work that I have done so far. I want to try to improve, to become better as each day goes by. I never thought that I would bring this trophy back home on three occasions. I want to become one of the greatest players of all time.”

Prior to 2010 there was France Football’s Ballon d’Or and the men’s FIFA World Player of the Year, but they were merged to consolidate awards into a single prize.

Messi won the award for three consecutive years in 2010, 2011, and 2012. Cristiano Ronaldo finished second in the latter two of those years.

Ronaldo was able to snag the award from Messi in 2013, who finished second. Now Ronaldo is stringing together his own streak of Ballon d’Or trophies. Ronaldo received 37.66% of all votes ahead of Lionel Messi (15.76%) & Manuel Neuer (15.72%). If you’re thinking that those numbers don’t add up to 100% it is because it works like the Heisman Trophy, the three-man shortlist were the highest vote getters amongst 23 candidates.

Ronaldo brought his son on stage to accept the award with him.

He also had a tweet ready to send out if he won.

The original list of 23 contenders:

Gareth Bale, Wales, Real Madrid
Karim Benzema, France, Real Madrid
Diego Costa, Spain, Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois, Belgium, Chelsea
Angel Di Maria, Argentina, Manchester United
Mario Gotze, Germany, Bayern Munich
Eden Hazard, Belgium, Chelsea
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden, Paris Saint-Germain
Andres Iniesta, Spain, Barcelona
Toni Kroos, Germany, Real Madrid
Philipp Lahm, Germany, Bayern Munich
Javier Mascherano, Argentina, Barcelona
Lionel Messi, Argentina, Barcelona
Thomas Muller, Germany, Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer, Germany, Bayern Munich
Neymar, Brazil, Barcelona
Paul Pogba, France, Juventus
Sergio Ramos, Spain, Real Madrid
Arjen Robben, Netherlands, Bayern Munich
James Rodriguez, Colombia, Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Real Madrid
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany, Bayern Munich
Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast, Manchester City

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