Lionel Messi’s four-year reign as Player of the Year is officially over as FIFA announced today that the recipient of this year’s coveted Baloon d’Or trophy is none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
After winning his first Baloon d’Or trophy in 2008, Ronaldo finished second behind Messi in FIFA’s voting in three of the past four years. This time around, his 66 goals in 56 appearances for both Real Madrid and Portugal proved to be enough to convince FIFA officials to award him top honors.
During his epic run in 2013, Ronaldo scored most of his 66 goals in the Nike Mercurial Vapor IX. The 28-year-old superstar continues to be at the forefront of the Mercurial Vapor collection. Nike rolled out countless Ronaldo PE’s of the popular cleat in 2013. This year, the Swoosh is expected to do more of the same with the next installment of the series.
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