At long last, Cristiano Ronaldo has another FIFA Ballon d'Or to call his own.
Ronaldo was named the 2013 winner at the Ballon d'Or gala in Zürich, Switzerland, on Monday, giving the international superstar his second such award and first since 2008. The Real Madrid striker and Portugal captain edged out Barcelona's Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry (France) despite winning no titles with the Spanish giants.
The 28-year-old Ronaldo scored more goals than the other two superstars, however, netting 69 times and adding 16 assists in 2013. He also had an incredible and memorable hat-trick performance to help push Portugal past Sweden and into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Messi won the award in 2012.
Ronaldo is expected to lead Portugal into battle against the US national team in the two nations' second group-stage game at Arena Amazônia in Manaus on June 22. The other teams in Group G are Germany and Ghana.
