At last the day has come. The wait was finally over when Cristiano Ronaldo’s name was announced as the best player of the year 2013 at FIFA’s annual award giving ceremony last night. After 4 long years the Ballon d’Or was in the hands CR7.
It was a dream come true for Ronaldo when he was the best player of the year award for the second time in his career. The first time when he won the trophy was in 2009 for an excellent 2008 season with Manchester United. And what he has not done that could have kept him away for the trophy for one more year! He has done everything to win the hearts of the jury as well as the fans across the world. He might not have been able to win any trophy in Real Madrid colours but it was mostly because of the incapability of the other players in the team that Real hasn’t won any trophy. He has given his best for the Spanish giants. In international matches he has played like a true genius. He scored a hat-trick for Portugal in the World Cup qualifier against Sweden that turned out to be crucial for Portugal’s qualification in the 2014 event. Keeping all these things in mind it can be inferred that CR7 has been the perfect choice made by the jury.
In the path of winning the trophy Ronaldo has to overcome some strong competitors in the name of Lionel Messi, who has won the trophy for four years on the trot, and Frank Ribery, who has played a pivotal role in Bayern’s triumphs in major tournaments last season, which include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. So it was not at all a stroll in the park for Ronaldo. CR7 should be grateful to the judges for giving him the award as they kept in mind the basic criteria for the trophy while making the judgement.
Cristiano Ronaldo having won the trophy said, “Thank you everyone, my teammates (at Real Madrid), the national team (Portugal) and my family, to everyone here. Eusebio and Mandela were very important for me … I am overwhelmed.”
Other than the Ballon d’Or, there were also other awards that were given away by FIFA last night. The most coveted among them-the Puskas Award for the best goal of the year went to Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his awesome strike against England. Jupp Heynckes won the Coach of the Year award for managing Bayern Munich to 5 trophies last season. In Women’s football, German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer won the Ballon d’Or and Silvia Neid was awarded the best Coach in Women’s football. Afghanistan Football Federation was presented the Fair Play Award. Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur went to the legendary Pele. It was for the first time that such an award has been given by FIFA.
Tags: Ballon d’Or best player of the year 2013 CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo FIFA Frank Ribery Jupp Heynckes Lionel Messi Nadine Angerer Pele Silvia Neid Zlatan Ibrahimovic
