Congratulations Cristiano Ronaldo! FIFA World Player of the Year! He is the first player from the English league to ever claim the prize, after the likes of David Beckham and Frank Lampard have only managed second place in the past.
Ronaldo was presented his award by Pele, with Messi and Torres claiming the other top spots.
“It’s a dream come true for me to get this award and I would like to dedicate this to my family,” said Ronaldo. “But it’s also true that the manager always has an important role to play. It was a great season for me and for my club, and the coach was important for me because I learned a lot for him. His experience over so many years is of paramount importance – it’s a privilege to have such a great club manager. This is the climax of a fantastic era for me. I’m happy and proud about what has been done by my team and what we have won. I am lucky to to be part of the history of a club like Manchester United.”
List of FIFA World Player of the Year winners
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) Manchester United
2007: Kaka (BRA) AC Milan
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (ITA) Real Madrid
2005: Ronaldinho (BRA) Barcelona
2004: Ronaldinho (BRA) Barcelona
2003: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Real Madrid
2002: Ronaldo (BRA) Real Madrid
2001: Luis Figo (POR) Real Madrid
2000: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Juventus
1999: Rivaldo (BRA) Barcelona
1998: Zinedine Zidane (FRA) Juventus
1997: Ronaldo (BRA) Inter Milan
1996: Ronaldo (BRA) Barcelona
1995: George Weah (LBR) AC Milan
1994: Romario (BRA) Barcelona
1993: Roberto Baggio (ITA) Juventus
1992: Marco van Basten (NED) AC Milan
1991: Lothar Matthaus (GER) Bayern Munich
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Well done Ron lad. played better yesterday and lets hope this is when you start terrorising teams again. No coincidence that played best when given a freer role.
And that’s a fact!!
Simple math really.I was a bit worried that Lio Messi’s form this season would threaten Ronaldo’s bidding but in the end Messi has no trophy to show for his efforts.So once again congratulations to CR7.The question is where does he go from here.Of course he can’t score 42 again and he should be happy if he gets 25.Personally i agree with what Giggsy sais a while back.Ronaldo’s best season wasn’t the last one.It was the 06-07 one.That’s when he played mostly as a winger and he has as many assists as he had goals to his name.We have Rooney,Tevez and Berba who can score but we don’t have many top class wingers to supply them with ammunition.If Ronaldo rediscovers his 06-07 winger form,Rooney and Berba will increase their goal-tally and we will be in with a great chance.
UTD: 1 World Player of the Year, 4 European Players of the Year
‘Pool: ???
If Fernando Torres wants to win either, he’ll have to leave Anfield.
FIFA should give Rafa the ‘stupidest manager in world football award’!!! God knows he deserves it!!!
Well done Cristiano.
was there any doubt……..well done lad,well deserved.
john terry voted for xavi from barca,fuck knows why?
Nice to see that CR7 is now saying all the right things… and realised that having his head turned wasnt necessarily gonna be better for him..
He knows the grass aint always greener…
Well Done CR7… Worlds best footballer playing for the World Champions..
look at what the BIG man did:
England boss Fabio Capello revealed he had voted for the top three in the right order — 1, Ronaldo, 2, Lionel Messi, 3, Fernando Torres. Chelsea skipper John Terry put Ronaldo third behind Xavi and Torres.
Terry is a nonce. Well done Ronaldo, justice has been done. I’d be willing to put money on it being Messi’s trophy next year though.
Davetian: Messi has a long, long history of injuries; he’s a small brittle guy and he gets kicked a lot. Plus, of course, this season is hardly in the key stage so it’s simply too soon to tell.
And, yes, TearyTerry is a nonce, a prat, AND a loser.
Messi’s having a blinder of a season so far. No major international tournament this summer and with Barcelona looking good to win their league, my money’s is on Messi. Unless someone steps up a few gears above Messi in the latter stages of the CL, but I don’t really see anyone capable of that as yet
fuck me, fat ronaldos won it 3 times, and cannavaro won it once!! wat the fock, no wonder our ronny wanted 2 go 2 madrid, probly felt that was the only team fifa watched!!!
and i still think rooney is better
its a fantastic time to be a united fan
Well done Ronnie…
At least Terry is not bitter, are they the new bitter blues?
Just got this off the BBC Website:
” Respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague and Spanish newspaper AS claim Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a deal with Ramon Calderon to join Real Madrid in the summer. (Guillembalague.com, 1123 GMT)”
Full article abou the Ronnie rumour:
Man Utd: Ronaldo has agreement with Real Madrid: Exclusive
EXCLUSIVE: Cristiano Ronaldo, in conjunction with his agent, Jorge Mendes, has reached an agreement with Ramon Calderon, to sign for Real Madrid in the summer.
It had recently been reported in the English press that the Manchester United winger had struck a similar deal with Florentino Pérez, the former Real Madrid president, and it was suggested that Pérez would use the agreement with Ronaldo as the springboard for his bid to regain the presidency in the forthcoming Bernabeu elections in 2010.
However, these reports were based upon a rumour that had been circulated amongst Madrid media circles and, by the time they appeared in the British press, suffered in translation. It has since been discovered that, rather than having agreed a deal with the former president to sign for the Spanish club in 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo has an agreement with the actual president of Real Madrid, to join the Spanish club in the summer of 2009 instead.
The differences in these details enabled the Manchester United player to state at yesterday’s press conference ahead of the World player of the year awards in Zurich: “My agent does not have an agreement with Florentino Pérez.”
The player has chosen his words carefully and it is significant that he named Pérez in his statement, thereby avoiding any actual denial of an agreement with Calderon and Real Madrid.
While this news may contradict many of the reports that have surfaced over the past few days, it confirms what many have suspected since last summer: that Cristiano Ronaldo intends to play for Real Madrid next season.
It is highly unlikely that Ronaldo and his agent would have discussed the details and sealed this agreement with Ramon Calderon, unless the player is now prepared to request a transfer from Manchester United: something that, in spite of his desire to move, he ultimately failed to do last summer. Some would say Ronaldo’s current form and body language reinforce the idea that this season may be his last at Old Trafford – in spite of the apparent statement of commitment on the Manchester United club website. It is clear that the player will not say anything detrimental to his current employers on one of their official media channels.
In spite of Ronaldo’s agreement with Ramon Calderon, the refusal of Sir Alex Ferguson to sell his best player remains a significant obstacle to the transfer to Madrid going ahead. And, if United refuse to sell, then the secret agreement with Calderon remains nothing more than that.
However, the falling value of sterling against the Euro has considerably strengthened the Spanish club’s ability to get their man. In other words, the stronger Euro effectively means that any fee that Real Madrid were prepared to pay last summer has, as far as United are concerned, increased by at least 20%. Furthermore, the new exchange rate also means Real Madrid are now able to compete with any salary the English club can offer the player.
I have gained access to the financial terms of the agreement and while it exists in a purely verbal form at the moment, the player’s lawyers have been fully informed of the details and are aware that penalty clauses have been agreed should either party fail to fulfil their part of the agreement.
Real Madrid are already preparing a sizeable financial package in order to bring the United winger to the Bernabeu. The Spanish club have allocated €85 million for the transfer, plus an additional fund to cover any potential add-ons, clauses and signing fees – and are prepared for the total cost of the switch to go as high as €115 million.
Ramon Calderon has agreed the overall structure of terms with the player and his agent, with the player looking at a €12 million gross salary at the Bernabeu. The agent, Jorge Mendes, could receive around €8 million from any potential deal.
So strong is the belief amongst the Bernabeu hierarchy that Ronaldo will be a Madrid player next season that the club are reluctant to invest significantly in a player for the right wing this January, in spite of this being a problem position for Juande Ramos.
Luis Antonio Valencia of Wigan has been identified as a primary target, but Real Madrid are unwilling to meet the Premiership club’s €17 million valuation that would eat into funds allocated to prise Ronaldo away from United in the summer. However, should Wigan be willing to accept a fee in the region of €12 million for Valencia, then Madrid may consider this a reasonable investment for the remainder of the season, while providing them with a player who will provide excellent cover for Ronaldo, should the United winger move to Madrid at the end of the season.
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©GuillemBalague.com
go on the website, Balague is a Liverpool rodding, self-congratulatory prick with his face all over the website. It relies on advertising money, therefore hits so putting out this Ronaldo story after he won the FIFA award makes sense for such a useless football journalist that needs a constant flow of sensational stories, he omits the part of Ronaldo’s quote on the site where he says he wants to become part of the history of Old Trafford…Guillem has joined my list of anti-united figures to hate
Re Jake;
Hope you’re right. I’ll hate Guillem as well then!
Bit disappointed we missed out on a Golden Globe!
Well done Ronaldo! Everyone knows you deserve it. Now please get back to helping our team win Titles!
KNIGHTSMITH……GIULLEM BOLLOCKS MATE…
I read thorugh his vitriol often…he thinks he’s the most in the know jourbnalist in spanish history….always pointing out what secrets and exclusives he knows…you should hear some of the things he says….seriously some things he mentions like he knows every word in the dressing rooms…what aplayer said in his bedroom…what calderon said in his bath. It goes on mate.
The guys a joke. Rememeber this was the guy that EXCLUSIVE SAID RONALDO WAS GOING 3 X IN THE SUMMER. What happened?
SAME GUY who said he had EXCLUSIVE knowledge that ronaldo was going in the jan window. What happened?
SAME GUY who supposedly had the transcript that the dodgy real director had..about some verbal deal. What happpend? transcript went missing..ahem
This guy supposedly has exclusives on every team and every player in or linked with spanish clubs. Joke
He is a glorified scouse prick. Money making spurious articles.
There is only 1 fact..ron saying the right things, Man utd have NO agreement..we have the contract…SAf does NOT want to sell…
END OF CONVO
Dont worry mate. Time to time when ron picks up an award or is in the news…they have to appease the madristas THAT THEY ARE STILL A BIG CLUB AND WILL MAKE THERE CUSTOMARY BIG SIGNING. Hence cum out with spanish waiter toilet paper comments
Spot on Suhayl! Not even worth talking about. Getting very boring now.
Now there’s news Ronaldo trademarked CR9, if its true, thats something off the mainstream rumors, but certainly points to something
I’m not easily convinced when it comes to Ronaldo but I actually think he’s turned a corner and that Ferguson wasn’t so mad to keep him in summer…Another 6 months in England and he’s speaking better English, probably become even closer friends to a lot of United players and I think he is now actually wanting to stay for a long time. His most recent comments are pretty unequivocal unlike previous occasions and as I understand it Raul is number 9 at Madrid isn’t he? They are planning to retire the shirt along with him I think…Mendes might be covering the bases somewhere else but Ronaldo seems to see his future at United now…This is another spin from Guillem Balague off the back of Ronaldo’s FIFA award to generate some hits for his website/Liverpool shrine…He’s a limelight seeking disgrace of a journalist who no doubt makes a packet on advertising on his website, wouldn’t be much use without a new sensational story and people clicking onto it would it? Ronaldo can’t make the comments he has just made and go back on them next summer (I don’t think), it doesn’t make sense and would ruin his character/reputation in the world..people like Pele, Beckenbauer etc have all come out before and backed Ronaldo to stay at United and not go to Madrid. Also, he seems to like America and the best avenue into America is to remain in an English speaking country in their favourite legaue the Premiership, if he wanted to play there in his later years a sponsorship deal with Nike is pretty handy too.