It's that time of year again when FIFA stages it's annual event known as THE BALLON D'OR. For those who are unfamiliar with this event, it's pretty much the Academy Awards of Professional Football. Every year in January hundreds of great names in Football, along with their stunning WAGS (Wives and Girlfriends), gather in Zurich to award one lucky footballer the highest honour in professional Football. Since 1956, the Ballon D'or has been awarded to some of the greatest names in Football history. Names like Matthews, Di Stefano, Yashin, Charlton, Eusebio, Best, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Platini, Van Basten, Ronaldo and Zidane have all won this prestigious award. Originally awarded to the European player of the year, the award changed in 2010 when it was merged with the FIFA World Player of the year award.
In the last few years there's been only one name on people's lips when it came to this award; Lionel Messi. Since the award was revamped back in 2010, the race for this grand prize has been a constant tug of war between Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. Having been runners up to Messi for two years in a row, Ronaldo finally took out the grand prize on January 13 in Zurich, Switzerland. Full credit must go to Ronaldo for this achievement, as his consistent and tireless work ethic on the field finally overshadowed that of Lionel Messi's achievements in the year 2013. Special mention must also go to German International Nadine Angerer, who took out the FIFA Women's World Player of the year award that same night. For a month which saw the loss of one of Portugal's favourite footballing son's Eusebio, this award will no doubt restore great pride for both Cristiano Ronaldo and the people of Portugal.
Written by Alex Stilianos.
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