JAKARTA - On January 12, 2015, the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or for the third time. Ronaldo's achievements in getting the award include 56 goals for Real Madrid.

“This has been an extraordinary year. I want to continue what I've been doing so far. I want to try to improve, to get better every day," Ronaldo said, citing The Guardian.

"I never thought that I would take this trophy home on three occasions and I wanted to win it again. I want to be one of the greatest players of all time," he added.

At that time there were critics who said that Ronaldo's success in winning the Ballon d'Or showed that his poor form at the 2014 World Cup could be easily forgotten. At that time Ronaldo came to Brazil to compete in the 2014 World Cup in an unfit condition.

This is because Ronaldo suffered a post-tendon injury in his left knee which was disturbing. The injury also kept him out of playing for Real Madrid in several games towards the end of the season.

Ronaldo emphatically refused to choose Messi, instead opting for Sergio Ramos, Bale and Karim Benzema, all of whom belong to Real Madrid. Messi also insulted Ronaldo, choosing Angel Di María, who he played with for Argentina, Andrés Iniesta, his Barcelona team-mate, and Mascherano, who he played with for club and country.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Photo: Instagram/cristiano)
Ballon d'Or Ronaldo

The Portuguese footballer first received the Ballon d'Or at the age of 23, in 2008. Ronaldo is the first person from his country to win the Ballon D'Or award since Luis Figo in 2000.

At that time Ronaldo often talked about his chances of winning the award. At one point, Ronaldo actually declared himself not only the best footballer in the world, but also second and third. At that time Lionel Messi was second and Fernando Torres was third.

So far, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or titles. The first Ballon d'Or winner is Lionel Messi with seven awards. In 2021, Messi won the Ballon d'Or after beating Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Chelsea midfielder Jorginho. Messi won after getting 613 points. While Ronaldo is in sixth position with 178 points.

The last Ballon d'Or that Ronaldo won was in 2017. Of the 30 names of footballers who were nominated, Ronaldo won the highest points, namely 946 points. This point achievement beat the number of points Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior who were in second and third position at that time. Ronaldo is considered to have the best performance throughout 2017.

The Ballon d'Or award has been awarded since 1956 by the French football magazine France Football. This award is given to the player who is considered to have the best performance from the previous year. The first to receive this honor was Blackpool's Stanley Matthews.

*Read other information about TODAY's HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.

TODAY'S HISTORY More

The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)