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Home  » Sports » Why Ronaldo won the Ballon D'Or again!

Why Ronaldo won the Ballon D'Or again!

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 14:36 IST
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Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for the second year running, his third overall.

A factfile on the Real Madrid and Portugal forward.

Early days

FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid speaks

FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid speaks during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshau. Photograph: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images

* Born: February 5, 1985, in Funchal, Madeira.

* Played youth football at Nacional before joining Sporting Lisbon in 2002, arch-rivals to his boyhood favourites Benfica.

Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates winning the Barclays Premier League trophy

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates winning the Barclays Premier League trophy in 2009. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

United manager Alex Ferguson signs an 18-year-old Ronaldo for just over 12 million pounds ($19.4 million) in August 2003 after an outstanding performance against United in a pre-season friendly in Lisbon.

* Named United's 2003-04 Player of the Year in his debut season and secures an FA Cup winners medal.

* Scores debut Champions League goal against Debrecen in qualifying for the 2005-06 edition.

* United claim the 2006-07 Premier League title and Ronaldo is named Footballer of the Year in England and Portugal. Runner-up to Kaka as European Footballer of the Year and third in FIFA World Player of the Year.

* Scores first Champions League goals in the main competition with a double in a 7-1 thrashing of AS Roma.

* United claim a Premier League and Champions League double in 2007-08, Ronaldo finishing as Europe's top goal scorer with 42 goals and winning several domestic awards including England's player of the season.

* Voted World Player of the Year having already become only the third Portuguese to win Europe's Ballon d'Or award following Eusebio in 1965 and Luis Figo in 2000.

* In 2008-09 helps United to the Premier League title, League Cup, Club World Cup and Champions League final, which they lose 2-0 to Barcelona.

* Scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United.

Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid CF celebrates after scoring. Photograph: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Became the world's most expensive player when he signed for Real for a fee of 80 million pounds in 2009.

* Nets 26 goals in 29 La Liga appearances in 2009-10 and seven in six Champions League outings but Real finish the season without major silverware and coach Manuel Pellegrini is sacked and replaced by Ronaldo's compatriot Jose Mourinho.

* Scores a Spanish record 40 goals in 34 games in 2010-11 and nets a superb header to win the King's Cup final against Barcelona.

* Increases his best tally for a single La Liga season to 46 goals in 38 games in 2011-12 but is surpassed by Barca forward Lionel Messi, who scores 50 in 37 games. Real win La Liga.

* Has a poor season by his standards in 2012-13 and Real fail to win major silverware, prompting Mourinho's exit.

* Scores a single-season record 17 goals in the Champions League in 2013-14 as Real secure a 10th European title. Ronaldo nets a penalty in the final in the 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid after extra-time.

* Wins the Club World Cup as Real Madrid beat San Lorenzo 2-0 in the final.

* Named World Player of the Year in 2008, 2013 and 2014.

Portugal

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo refresehes himself. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Makes Portugal debut in 1-0 friendly win over Kazakhstan in August 2003.

* Helps Portugal to runners-up spot at the 2004 European championship.

* Plays a controversial role in the sending-off of England's Wayne Rooney, his Manchester United team mate, in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals. Television cameras catch him winking at the bench as Rooney was sent off.

* Portugal are eliminated from the 2010 World Cup by Spain in the last 16 and Ronaldo spits at a television cameraman as he walks off the pitch.

* Helps Portugal to the semi-finals of Euro 2012, where they are again knocked out by the Spanish, this time on penalties. Ronaldo doesn't get to take a spot kick due to earlier misses by his team mates.

* Suffers disappointment as Portugal go out in the group stage at the 2014 World Cup.

* Overtakes Pauleta's tally of 47 goals in March 2014 to become Portugal's record scorer. Has netted 52 goals in 117 appearances for his country.

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