Brazilian Ronaldo tips Lionel Messi for January's FIFA Ballon d'Or title

 
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Sam Johnston26 December 2013

Brazilian footballing great Ronaldo has said he would give the FIFA Ballon d'Or award to Lionel Messi ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Showing no bias to the man who shares his name, the 37-year-old Brazilian who won the title twice himself in 1997 and 2003, said: “I’d go for Messi due to technical considerations… I’d have to see what the criteria is for deciding who the winner should be, but I think that it has been a great year for him.”

Messi’s Barcelona comfortably beat Ronaldo’s Real Madrid to the 2012-2013 Spanish league title, winning by an impressive 15-point margin while Messi outscored Ronaldo 46 to 34 league goals.

However Ronaldo’s form in the second half of 2013 has led many to suggest he deserves the award.

Not only has he scored 27 goals in 21 appearances for his club, but almost single-handedly earned Portugal a place at next year’s World Cup.

With his side in trouble, the Portugal captain scored a stunning hat-trick in the second leg of the play-offs to propel the Portuguese past Zlatan Ibrahimovich’s Sweden.

And the Brazilian added, “I believe that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two best players in the world.”

The winner of the Ballon d’Or will be revealed on January 13. Bayern Munich’s Frank Ribery joins Messi and Ronaldo in the final three.  

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