Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or award for joint-record fifth time

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By Euronews
Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or award for joint-record fifth time

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo has once again won the Ballon d'Or for world footballer of the year.

He now has five of them at home, matching his eternal rival, Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

As usual, Messi was among the finalists alongside Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar.

Either Ronald or Messi has won the prize every single year since 2008. But the Real Madrid forward is not quite blasé yet.

"Still, I have the motivation to be Cristiano, to play with happiness, so I think the main word is happy, enjoy, enjoy myself," Ronaldo told reporters.

"I play in a fantastic club, a fantastic national team, let's see what the future brings. So at this moment, I'm very happy."

France Football magazine awarded Ronaldo the Ballon d'Or for having led his side to the La Liga title with 25 goals and another Champions League crown, netting 12 goals including two in the 4-1 win over Juventus in the final.

Ronaldo matching Messi will reignite the eternal debate over which of the two players is the best in the world - or indeed of all time.