As the world awaits the verdict on who'll be crowned the winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, awarded to the player considered to have performed best in 2013, Sky Sports takes a look at the three nominated candidates. Did Lionel Messi do enough to retain the crown or will it be Cristiano Ronaldo's goals or Franck Ribery's trophy cabinet that impresses the judges?
CRISTIANO RONALDO
The Goals
Outrageous stuff. Ronaldo has scored a phenomenal 55 goals for Real Madrid in 2013 with Getafe, Galatasaray and Real Sociedad all on the receiving end of hat-tricks by the Portuguese marksman. He even reserved two of the beauties for Sevilla. And that's just his record in club football. This was also the year in which Ronaldo scored two hat-tricks for his country - the second of which against Sweden in the second leg of Portugal's World Cup playoff ensuring his country's place in Brazil.
The Glory
It's the empty space at the heart of a remarkable season of personal achievement. Real Madrid failed to win a single trophy in 2013. Second in La Liga to Barcelona, runners-up in the Copa del Rey to Atletico Madrid and beaten in the semi-final of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund, Ronaldo had to content himself with the title of top scorer in Europe's premier club competition - regaining the crown he had lost to Messi in 2008/09.
The Case
There are plenty of titles, trophies and cups out there for team achievement. That's the nature of football. But the Ballon d'Or is surely here to honour individual brilliance. It is difficult to argue that anyone has exceeded the efforts of Ronaldo in that regard. Week after week he has produced mind-blowing match-winning performances allied to the sort of goalscoring greatness usually reserved for comic books and computer games. A heroic effort that deserves acclaim.
He says
"Do I deserve to win? I believe I deserve to win the Golden Ball each year. I would like to win, but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, that is the way things are. I've been on the podium for six years. This is no accident, it demonstrates the consistency that I have shown in recent years." - Cristiano Ronaldo
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