Ballon d’OR 2013: Cristiano Ronaldo wins the big prize for the 2nd time in his career

Cristiano Ronaldo deservedly won the 2013 Ballon d’Or here at the star-studded ceremony in Zurich. Cristiano Ronaldo had a phenomenal 2013 where he almost single-handedly took Portugal to the World Cup and given out several virtuoso displays for Real Madrid. It was an emotional moment for the Portuguese superstar who had to remain content with being 2nd best for the last several years behind Lionel Messi.

Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer named FIFA women’s player of the year. FIFA also awarded for the first time a special lifetime achievement award ‘Ballon d’Or Prix D’Honneur’ and it went to the greatest player ever Pele. Zlatan Ibrahimovic won the FIFA Puskas award for best goal in 2013 while the Afghanistan FA pick up the FIFA Fair Play Award. Jupp Heynckes won the Coach of the Year for Men’s Football and Silvia Reid won the Coach of the Year for Women’s Football.

The FIFA World Team of the year contained four players from Barcelona, three from Bayern Munich while two each from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. The FIFPro World XI: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich); Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Sergio Ramos(Real Madrid), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Dani Alves (Barcelona); Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich); Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid),Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)