Star football player Cristiano Ronaldo has once again won the Ballon d’Or for a fifth time and leveled with rival Lionel Messi. Ronaldo was announced as the winner of this France Football’s most respectful award at a ceremony held in Paris on 7 December, 2017, Thursday.
The award caps a year in which Ronaldo has won LaLiga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid, as well as helping Portugal qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
The winner was declared based on the voting system and Messi, the only other player to have won the award since 2008, ended up second in the voting while third place was bagged by Neymar, who joined Paris St Germain in a world-record transfer deal this summer. This is the fifth wasrd of Ronaldo. He previously has won the award in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
Ronaldo and Messi both are now standing apart from others with five wins. Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten are three times winners of Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo has had an outstanding 2017, helping Madrid to a LaLiga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup treble this year.