Cristiano Ronaldo Awarded 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or
The votes are in and in a substantial victory Cristiano Ronaldo has been awarded the 2014 Ballon d’Or over Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer and others.
The FIFA Ballon d’Or is a prestigious awarded given to top footballers every year for their performance in the previous season. Votes coming from national team coaches, journalists, and captains of the world’s teams determine who receives the coveted honour.
This year it went to Christiano Ronaldo, who received more than 37% of the total votes. By comparison the next contender, Lionel Messi received just over 15.5% of the cumulative votes.
Notable stats in Ronaldo’s award winning season include his 52 goals in 43 games, averaging 62 minutes of play time per goal. He scored a substantial amount with shots coming off both feet as well as headers, as well as totalling 17 assists during the judging period.
This is Ronaldo’s second 1st place Ballon award, topped only by Lionel Messi’s three. His first was received in 2008 at age 23.
Ronaldo received top votes across all of the UK, Europe and South America, with the highest percentages coming from the UK at 42%.
