Ronaldo wins Ballon D’Or

ZURICH: It did not matter that the voting went mostly as expected; Cristiano Ronaldo cried anyway.

Ronaldo, the star forward for Portugal and Real Madrid, broke down in tears on Monday night after being named FIFA’s world player of the year. He was chosen over the Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi, who won the award the previous four years, and Franck Ribéry, the indomitable French midfielder for Bayern Munich.

Ronaldo, who scored 66 goals in 56 games last year, did not win a team trophy (Ribéry won five with Munich), but he did lead his national team to a place in the World Cup with a memorable performance against Sweden in the European playoffs. That star turn, in which Ronaldo scored all four of Portugal’s goals in the two-leg matchup, came - coincidentally - just as FIFA extended the voting period for the year-end award, citing an unusually low response rate in the balloting.

That extension surely helped, though considering Ronaldo’s productive scoring, as well as Messi’s injury-plagued season and Ribéry’s lack of gaudy statistics, his victory in the voting of national team coaches and captains and select journalists was largely expected. Ronaldo received 1,365 points, Messi 1,205 and Ribéry 1,127.

Ronaldo was ecstatic after his name was called at the end of FIFA’s annual gala in Zurich. He dabbed at his eyes and was embraced by the Brazilian legend Pelé after the announcement. Ronaldo brought his young son, also named Cristiano, to the stage with him.

“I am very happy; it is very difficult to win this award,” he said. “It is a tremendously emotional moment.”