Cristiano Ronaldo won the fifth Ballon d’Or of his career and is now tied with Lionel Messi at five trophies apiece.
The Portuguese superstar completed the double with Real Madrid during the 2016/17 season by winning the Champions League and the La Liga. During the past calendar year, the Los Blancos legend scored a staggering 49 goals in 56 appearances. But Ronaldo admitted to the fact that he did not realise his full potential until he reached Old Trafford and hence decided to thank a couple of his former Manchester United mates after the Ballon d’Or win.
‘Since I was 14, 15 or 16 years old I knew that I was different from other kids,’ Ronaldo said. ‘I did different things.
‘I realized that I was good at Manchester United when I played with players like Giggs, Keane or Ferdinand. I had talent.
‘The English mentality is different and those people helped me a lot to be what I am now.
‘I have to thank my colleagues in Manchester.’
Here’s the full Ballon d’Or list for 2017:
1: Cristiano Ronaldo
2: Lionel Messi
3: Neymar
4: Gianluigi Buffon
5: Luka Modric
6: Sergio Ramos
7: Kylian Mbappé
8: N’Golo Kanté
9: Robert Lewandowski
10: Harry Kane
11: Edinson Cavani
12: Isco
13: Luis Suarez
14: Kevin De Bruyne
15: Paulo Dybala
16: Marcelo
17: Toni Kroos
18: Antoine Griezmann
19: Eden Hazard
20: David De Gea
21: Leonardo Bonucci and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
23: Sadio Mané
24: Radamel Falcao
25: Karim Benzema
26: Jan Oblak
27: Mats Hummels
28: Edin Dzeko
29: Dries Mertens and Philippe Coutinho.
