Cristiano Ronaldo became only the 10th player to win multiple Ballon d'Or awards when he lifted the 2013 prize on Monday.
Ronaldo was crowned the best player in the world for the past year ahead
of Barcelona star Lionel Messi - who won the previous four awards - and
Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery.
The Portugal captain first lifted
the prize back in 2008 after leading Manchester United to the Premier
League and Champions League, and joins a prestigious list of players to
have been awarded the prize more than once in their career.
Messi leads the way with four Ballons d'Or to his name, with Uefa
president and France icon Michel Platini level with Netherlands legends
Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten on three.
Ronaldo joins such
illustrious names as former Real Madrid striker Alfredo Di Stefano,
Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer, ex-Liverpool and England star Kevin
Keegan, former Germany hitman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Brazilian
Ronaldo on two titles.
The 28-year-old, who received 27.99 per cent of the votes from national
team coaches, captains and selected media representatives to win the
latest award, has already set his sights on further individual glory as
he aims to add to his two Ballons d'Or wins and six top-three
nominations.
"Finding out I'd won made me extremely happy, I felt very proud," he told Fifa.com at the event in Zurich. "Winning a second Ballon d'Or was what I yearned for most.
"They
[Platini and Pele] were truly great players in the past, great legends:
it's a huge privilege to be handed this by them. I'm going to try to
give my best, like I always do, and I hope to be back next year to win
the third Ballon d'Or of my career. That's what I intend to do."
Ronaldo
finished 2013 with a total of 69 goals in 59 appearances for club and
country, including four in the crucial World Cup playoff win over Sweden
in the autumn.
He set a new record for goals in the Champions
League group stages, netting nine strikes in just five appearances, and
was rewarded with a new contract to become the highest-paid player in
Spain last September.
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