You can argue from now till thy kingdom come, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are superhuman and above all else in the game of football as the two continued their dominance of individual awards in the game dating back to 10 years now. Ronaldo beat Messi and Neymar to claim the 2017 Ballon d’Or equalling his rival’s record haul of 5.
Ronaldo walked on to the stage beneath the Eiffel Tower, clutching a golden ball under his arm. At a glitzy ceremony befitting a man with diamonds in his ears, celebrating his fifth Ballon d’Or award.
The Real Madrid striker claimed the La Liga title as well as the Champions League in another trophy-laden year. Ronaldo triumph expected especially after pictures had emerged of Ronaldo’s new Nike boots with ‘Quinto Triunfo’ (fifth triumph) stitched into them few days before the winner of the award will be named.
Cristiano Ronaldo Ballon d’Or @francefootball 2017 ! #BallondOr pic.twitter.com/XbPS7anVRL
— France Football (@francefootball) December 7, 2017
Ronaldo held up a hand with fingers spread to indicate his quintet of Ballon d’Ors, as he matched Messi and extended their era of domination of both to 10 years.
“I feel very happy, it’s a fantastic moment in my career,” Ronaldo said, standing with his mother Maria Dolores and his oldest son Cristiano Jr. “I’ve waited a long time for this. This has been a stupendous year for me, we won the Champions League and La Liga and on a personal level, I was top scorer in the Champions League.
“Trophies help me win prizes like this and I have to thank my teammates at Madrid and Portugal. They’ve been very important to me.”
