Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or

United winger lands 2008 award

Last updated: 2nd December 2008

Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or

Ronaldo: Ballon d'Or winner

Previous Ballon d'Or winners:
1956 - Stanley Matthews
1957 - Alfredo Di Stefano
1958 - Raymond Kopa
1959 - Alfredo Di Stefano
1960 - Luis Suarez
1961 - Omar Sivori
1962 - Josef Masopust
1963 - Lev Yashin
1964 - Denis Law
1965 - Eusebio
1966 - Bobby Charlton
1967 - Florian Albert
1968 - George Best
1969 - Gianni Rivera
1970 - Gerd Muller
1971 - Johan Cruyff
1972 - Franz Beckenbauer
1973 - Johan Cruyff
1974 - Johan Cruyff
1975 - Oleg Blokhin
1976 - Franz Beckenbauer
1977 - Alan Simonsen
1978 - Kevin Keegan
1979 - Kevin Keegan
1980 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1981 - Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
1982 - Paolo Rossi
1983 - Michel Platini
1984 - Michel Platini
1985 - Michel Platini
1986 - Igor Belanov
1987 - Ruud Gullit
1988 - Marco Van Basten
1989 - Marco Van Basten
1990 - Lothar Matthaus
1991 - Jean-Pierre Papin
1992 - Marco Van Basten
1993 - Roberto Baggio
1994 - Hristo Stoichkov
1995 - George Weah
1996 - Matthias Sammer
1997 - Ronaldo
1998 - Zinedine Zidane
1999 - Rivaldo
2000 - Luis Figo
2001 - Michael Owen
2002 - Ronaldo
2003 - Pavel Nedved
2004 - Andrei Shevchenko
2005 - Ronaldinho
2006 - Fabio Cannavaro
2007 - Kaka
2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo

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Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2008 Ballon d'Or award ahead of Lionel Messi and Fernando Torres.

Ronaldo was the clear favourite to land the prestigious prize after a remarkable year at Old Trafford.

The powerful attacker netted 42 goals last season as the Red Devils claimed Premier League and UEFA Champions League glory.

His summer was overshadowed by Real Madrid's courting of the 23-year-old, while he missed the start of the new term with an ankle injury.

But Ronaldo has demonstrated his impressive ability in recent weeks, netting nine times since September.

Ronaldo finished runner-up to Brazilian forward Kaka in 2007 and overcame strong competition this time around from Barcelona playmaker Messi - who finished second - and third placed Liverpool star Torres.

He is already FIFPro World Player of the Year and also took the top prizes from the Professional Footballers' Association and the Football Writers last term.

The Portugal winger is the first United player to win the Ballon d'Or since George Best in 1968 and the first from his country since Luis Figo in 2000.

Final positions (British based players in bold):

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United), 446 points

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), 281 pts

3. Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), 179 pts

4. Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), 133 pts

5. Xavi (Spain, Barcelona), 97 pts

6. Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Zenit St Petersburg), 64 pts

7. David Villa (Spain, Valencia), 55 pts

8. Kaka (Brazil, AC Milan), 31 pts

9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan), 30 pts

10 Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool), 28 pts

11. Marcos Senna (Spain, Villarreal), 16 pts.

12. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Arsenal), 12 pts.

13. Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United), 11 pts.

14. Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Atletico Madrid), 10 pts.

15. Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea), 8 pts.

16. Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), 7 pts.

17. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Barcelona), 6 pts.

18. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus), 5 pts.

19. Michael Ballack (Germany, Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal), 4 pts.

21. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), 3 pts.

24. Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands, Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands, Real Madrid), 2 pts.

No votes : Karim Benzema (Lyon), Pepe (Real Madrid), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), and Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow).