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Cristiano Ronaldo, Ballon d’Or Winner, Not Messi or Ribery
As expected, Cristiano Ronaldo is the 2013 Ballon d’Or winner, finishing ahead of Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi in the voting for FIFA’s most prestigious individual award, given to him for a fantastic individual season with Real Madrid and Portugal, even though he didn’t win a single team title.
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2013 Ballon d’Or – The 23 Man Shortlist
FIFA have announced their 23-player shortlist for the 2013 Ballon d’Or award, pretty much being another name for best footballer in the world this year, with Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Franck Ribery (France) being the favorites to win it and are also the representatives of their country.
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Nominees for the 2012 Ballon d’Or
The list for the nominees for the 2012 Ballon d’Or award were released by FIFA, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the obvious candidates to win this one, while Real Madrid beat Barcelona in terms of number of players on this list and no one really came close to Spain on the international front.
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Another FIFA Ballon d’Or for Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi added another award to his incredibly packed trophy cabinet, winning his third consecutive Ballon d’Or, further cementing his place, at least in the books as the record will show, as the greatest player in the world and this era. Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, while Neymar picked up the Puskas award for 2011 goal of the year.