BEVERLY HILLS, December 08, (THEWILL) – Cristiano Ronaldo has won his fifth Ballon d’Or to equal Lionel Messi.
The Madrid star was awarded in a glitzy ceremony at the Eiffel Tower.
Ronaldo who got the awad ahead of Messi and Neymar is now level with Barcelona’s Messi on five Ballon d’Ors following a 2016-17 season in which he won the Champions League and La Liga double with Real Madrid.
The 2017 winner was unveiled in a dramatic video which slowly zoomed in on the sparkling Eiffel Tower to reveal Ronaldo standing on the podium and holding up the trophy.
Ronaldo was later joined on stage by his mother Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro and son Cristiano Ronaldo Jr as his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez watched on from the audience.
Ronaldo was joined in the top 30 by six of his Real Madrid team-mates: Karim Benzema (25th place), Toni Kroos (17th), Marcelo (16th), Isco (12th), Sergio Ramos (sixth) and Modric (fifth).
Neymar, who became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for £198million in August, came third while Juventus’ veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon finished fourth.
The Premier League’s highest placed player was Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante who finished eighth while Tottenham striker Harry Kane just sneaked into the top 10.
Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the award over the past decade, sharing it for the past 10 seasons ever since AC Milan’s Brazilian midfielder Kaka won ahead of the pair at the 2007 ceremony.
Messi’s Ballon d’Ors came in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 while Ronaldo has been more dominant in recent seasons by winning four of the last five awards to add to his 2008 triumph.
His fifth award means he and Messi are tied for most wins, with two more than any other player in history. Michael Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten were both awarded the gong three times.
Winners since 2000:
2000: Luis Figo (POR)
2001: Michael Owen (ENG)
2002: Ronaldo (BRA)
2003: Pavel Nedved (CZE)
2004: Andrei Shevchenko (UKR)
2005: Ronaldinho (BRA)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (ITA)
2007: Kaka (BRA)
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
2009: Lionel Messi (ARG)
2010: Lionel Messi (ARG)
2011: Lionel Messi (ARG)
2012: Lionel Messi (ARG)
2013: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
2014: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
2015: Lionel Messi (ARG)
2016: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
2017: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR)
