CRISTIANO RONALDO WAS this evening named as the winner of the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or — and at least one Irish voter agrees.
Robbie Keane used his captain’s ballot to vote for the Portuguese star ahead of Lionel Messi, who was bidding for an unprecedented fifth straight win.
But Ireland manager Martin O’Neill reversed the order for his top two and went with Messi over Ronaldo, with both men giving their third preference to Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale.
Ronaldo, who scored 66 goals in 56 games last year, received 27.99% of the votes with Messi on 24.72% and Ribery on 23.36%.
In the voting for Men’s Coach of the Year Keane, O’Neill and Irish media representative Paul Kelly all agreed on the eventual winner, former Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes.
Ballon d’Or
Martin O’Neill: 1. Lionel Messi 2. Cristiano Ronaldo 3. Gareth Bale
Robbie Keane: 1. Cristiano Ronaldo 2. Lionel Messi 3. Gareth Bale
Paul Kelly (media vote): 1. Franck Ribery 2. Cristiano Ronaldo 3. Lionel Messi
Men’s Coach of the Year
Martin O’Neill: 1. Jupp Heynckes 2. Alex Ferguson 3. Jurgen Klopp
Robbie Keane: 1. Jupp Heynckes 2. Jurgen Klopp 3. Carlo Ancelotti
Paul Kelly: 1. Jupp Heynckes 2. Rafael Benitez 3. Alex Ferguson
