Rabat- Just few hours ahead of the Ballon D’Or gala at the Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland, Spanish leading Sports newspaper MARCA revealed that the winner of this year’s edition will be Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
MARCA said that the Portuguese international has garnered more votes than his rivals for the prestigious trophy Frank Ribéry and Leo Messi; therefore the Real Madrid ace will lift the Ballon d’Or for the second time in his career after his first award in 2008, according to the same source.
With this triumph, Ronaldo will be ending what has been the finest season of his professional career with 69 goals scored during 2013.
The Spanish newspaper added that the 28-year-old has known he is the winner of the FIFA Ballon D’Or since last week. This explains why he said earlier that he will attend the gala and why he invited his close family members to see him crowned as the best player of the year.
Ronaldo will be joined by his girlfriend model Irina Shayak, his agent Jorge Mendes, as well as Florentino Pérez, Emilio Butragueno, Zinedine Zidane and Sergio Ramos, who will be named best central defender of the year, jointly with Brazilian Thiago Silva.