It has taken Cristiano Ronaldo a long time to be
back on top of the world.
Since winning the Ballon d'Or for the first time
after leading Manchester United to Champions
League glory in 2008, he has been relegated into
second place in three of the last four years as
Barcelona rival Lionel Messi won the award for
an unprecedented four consecutive times.
On Monday, however, he was finally crowned
World Player of the Year for a second time as he
beat Messi and Bayern Munich's treble-winning
playmaker Franck Ribery to football's highest
individual award.
By swapping Manchester for Real Madrid in the
summer of 2009, Ronaldo accepted the
challenge of constant comparisons with Messi.
Unfortunately for the Portuguese, though, his
marriage with the world's richest club initially
wasn't as perfect as he had envisaged.
Barca and Messi's dominance has continued as
they have racked up 12 trophies to Madrid and
Ronaldo's three since he moved to Spain.
Fifa Ballon d'Or 2013
Duration: 5 min, 0 sec
Highlights of the Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala from
Kongresshaus, Zurich, Switzerland.
The Catalans were once again superior on a
collective level in 2013 as they sealed their 22nd
league title with a club record 100 points.
However, with Messi's year having been blighted
by injuries, the last 12 months did signal a
change on the individual front for Ronaldo.
Despite his remarkable goalscoring record,
Ronaldo wasn't always greeted with the hero's
worship he thought he deserved from the club's
fans.
Yet, driven by fear that he could have been
running down his contract with the intention of
leaving Madrid, 2013 marked a turning point in
the adulation Ronaldo now receives every time
he steps foot inside the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo finally quashed any speculation
surrounding his future by extending his contract
with Madrid until 2018 in September in a deal
that saw him become the world's best paid
player.
And the backing he now receives was most
visibly displayed when thousands of Real fans
donned masks of their hero in support of his
bid to win the Ballon d'Or following incendiary
comments from Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
Blatter had described Ronaldo as a
"commander" given his serious nature on the
field and said he personally preferred Messi's
more humble image.
The Swiss' words, though, only seemed to fan
the flames of Ronaldo's already sensational
form as he went on to score 15 times in his next
eight matches.
Most importantly in that run, he ensured
Portugal wouldn't miss out on this year's World
Cup in Brazil by scoring all four of his country's
goals in their 4-2 aggregate playoff win over
Sweden.
The impact in particular of his stunning hat-trick
in the second-half of the second-leg in
Stockholm was such that Fifa conveniently
decided to extend the voting period for the
Ballon d'Or by two weeks and allow those that
had already cast their votes to change them.
How much of an impact that change of dates
made is unclear.
Ribery can certainly feel hard done by after
Bayern steamrollered the competition on their
way to winning five trophies in 2013.
Yet, despite his lack of collective silverware,
Ronaldo's individual brilliance cannot be
overlooked.
His 66 goals in 56 games for club and country
was more than Messi and Ribery's combined
total of 65.
Ronaldo also led the way in the most
demanding environment of all, the Champions
League, finishing as last season's top scorer and
becoming the first man to ever score nine times
in just five group games this season.
Moreover, at both club and international level
he has managed to revise the previously
popular image of him as a petulant and selfish
player.
At the age of 28, this is a more mature Ronaldo
than the one who won the Ballon d'Or five years
ago. A captain and star that, as he showed that
night in Stockholm, takes responsibility and leads
by his example.
A maturation process that has finally seen him
topple Messi as the world's best.
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