Lionel Messi wins his 4th FIFA Balon d'Or. Ronaldo gets second place!

The elite football comunity gathered in Zurichthis past Monday, to attend the FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 ceremony. Cristiano Ronaldo, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi were the final 3 candidates hoping to take the glamorous award home, but the honor was given to theArgentinian star. Messi won his 4th consecutiveFIFA Balon d'Or with 41.60% of the votes, while Ronaldo got second place with 23.68% and Iniesta third, with 10.91%.

The suspense is over and the outcome of the FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 ceremony has to be considered a true disappointment for those who believed that the voting panel could still show some objective criteria when casting their votes. Lionel Messicollected his 4th FIFA Balon d'Or in a row, in a year where all the Argentinian has won was a single Copa del Rey, after a final played against Athletic Bilbao. Cristiano Ronaldo in the other hand, delivered La Liga title to Real Madrid (with impressive performances in decisive games such as the Camp Nou one), as well as the Spanish Super Cup, which was won precisely against Barça. As for individual records, it's a fact that both players broke several all-time landmarks, with Messi reaching 91 goals in the 2012 calendar year and Ronaldo scoring to every single team in La Liga, something that was never done in the past. However and unlike what it happened in previous editions of the FIFA Balon d'Or, this year it seems like many people preferred to ignore the collective titles each player earned and basicaly casted their votes by judging players for their individual stats. This naturally ended up benefitingLionel Messi, since his goalscoring record received a lot more public recognition than any others we've seen in the past, something that curiously (or not) didn't happen in recent years, when Ronaldo and Messi had their roles inverted...

The FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 - Cristiano Ronaldo profile:

Cristiano Ronaldo and Andrés Iniesta were clearly rated as the two underdogs into this FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 award race. As soon as Lionel Messi closed the gap to break Gerd Muller's goalscoring record in a single year, he quickly became the favorite to win this trophy, regardless of what he had accomplished with his team. No one is trying to undervalue Messi's 91 goal tally in 2012, but given the fact that those goals basically didn't led his team to win any trophies other than a Copa del Rey, why do many people still ranked his 2012 year as better than the one Ronaldo had? Does anyone really believe that Messi's 91 goals didn't led to any significant title simply because the rest of his teammates weren't up to the task of playing close to his level? That doesn't seem to make much logic, especially since there seems to be a consensus about this Barcelona team being the best ever in the club history.

If Messi scoring more goals than the others ended up being enough to prevail over all the other factors that could have played a role in the voters decisions, why didn't this happen last year for example (2011), when it was Ronaldo breaking several all-time individual goalscoring records, and Messi taking the important team trophies? Is the FIFA Balon d'Or more of a popularity contest more than anything else? How much did the two players personalities weigh, when the time came for the coaches, captains and media journalists to pick either Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi? What more has Ronaldo to do in order to receive the recognition he clearly deserves from the football comunity? Would Ronaldo win the next FIFA Balon d'Or if he ends up scoring more than 91 goals in 2013 and Messi takes home the Spanish League and other team trophies? I guess we all know the answer to these questions...

As for the other prizes given out this Monday night, Abby Wambach won the FIFA's Women Player of the Year 2012 award, while Vicente del Bosque won the FIFA World Coach of the Year for men's football trophy and Pia Sundhage collected the same one but for the Women's football. The FIFA Puskas award honored the best goal scored in 2012 and it was delivered to Fenerbahçe's player, Miroslav Stoch. The FIFA Presidential award 2012 was given to Franz Beckenbauer and the Fair Play award was handed to the Uzbekistan Football Association. Last but not least was the FIFA/FIFPRO World XI, revealing the best starting line-up of the year. Cristiano Ronaldo starred in the attack alongside with Radamel Falcao and Lionel Messi, while the midfield was formed by Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andés Iniesta, and the defence by Marcelo,Sergio Ramos, Piqué and Daniel Alves. The goalkeeper was Real Madrid's captain,Iker Casillas.

The FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 ceremony - Full list of awards:

FIFA Balon d'Or 2012 - Awards
Award	Name	Club name
FIFA Balon d'Or - Men	Lionel Messi	FC Barcelona
FIFA Balon d'Or - Women	Abby Wambach	United States of America
FIFA World Coach - Men	Vicente del Bosque	Spain
FIFA World Coach - Women	Pia Sundhage	United States of America
FIFA Puskas	Miroslav Stoch	Fenerbahçe
FIFA Presidential Award	Franz Beckenbauer	-
Fair Play Award	Uzbekistan FA	-
FIFA/FIFPRO World XI	Casillas, Marcelo, Ramos, Piqué, D. Alves, X.Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldo, Messi and Falcao	Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid

Before the ceremony was held, Ronaldo, Iniesta and Lionel Messi attended a short press-conference where they were asked a few and quick questions about this special evening. There was a curious one being fired into the the Portuguese and Argentinianplayer, concerning the reasons why neither of them included the other in their 3 choices for the FIFA Balon d'Or award. Messi justified his decision with the fact that he cherishes more his teammates, but that he still rates Ronaldo as one of the best footballers in the game.

The Argentinian picked Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Aguero. Lionel Messi: "I would be stupid if I didn't rank Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best players in the World. However, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Aguero are my friends and I preferred to vote on them...", pointed out the Barcelona forward.

As for Ronaldo, he explained that he ended up not choosing any player whatsoever, since that duty was carried by Bruno Alves instead. The reason for that to happen had to do with the fact that in the day where was he was supposed to cast his vote, he was still severely injured from an open cut that came from an elbow on his left eyebrow, in an incident that happened in La Liga's game against Levante, on November 11, 2012.

Cristiano Ronaldo: "I didn't have the opportunity to vote. I suffered a cut on my eyebrow during a game for Real Madrid and when I arrived to the Portuguese National Team camp a couple days after, I was sent home by the doctors. Therefore, I didn't even cast my vote." [Bruno Alves took his place, since he is the Portuguese National Team 2nd captain].

For those who are still questioning yourselves about who exactly voted for the FIFA Balon d'Or and how did the ranking system worked afterall, we'll publish below the official FIFA voting list/chart, with all the information about every single vote. It's curious to see how some of the people voted on Sergio Busquets to win the FIFA Balon d'Or, or even how some had the audacity to rule out both Messi and Ronaldofrom their top 3 choices...

Voting list/chart: www.ronaldo7.net/fifa-balon-dor-2012-complete-voting-list.pdf

Hopefully Ronaldo won't be affected with the outcome of this FIFA Balon d'Orceremony, even though we all know how much this award meant to him. There's an important game coming up right this Wednesday against Celta de Vigo and the UEFA Champions League big clash between Real Madrid vs Manchester United live is right around the corner as well! The show must go on...

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Celta de Vigo, for the Copa del Rey, on January 9, 2013. You can watch Real Madrid vs Celta de Vigo,Barça vs Cordoba, Manchester United vs Liverpool live and Arsenal vs Manchester city, all matches provided from our football streams section.

Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Celta de Vigo kick-off time (09-01-2013):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+8: 03:#0
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+2: 21:30
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+1: 20:30
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-1: 18:30
New York (United States) | GMT-4: 15:30
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-7: 12:30
Beijing (China) | GMT-7: 12:30

Sources: ronaldo7.net / fifa.com / telegraph.com

Real Madrid 4-3 Real Sociedad. Captain Ronaldo delivers the win

The new year has arrived but Real Madriddoesn't seem to have changed much the game script, at least when comparing to what we've been used to see over the last months. TheMerengues hosted Real Sociedad at theSantiago Bernabéu and pulled off a very tough win by 4-3, in a game where Adán got sent off around the 6th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo woreReal Madrid's captain armband in an official game for the first time in his career and scored a brace that helped putting his side in the path to victory.

Thrilling match at the Santiago Bernabéu, with Real Madrid beating Real Sociedad by4-3, after being forced to play most of the game with only 10 men. Real Madrid's usual substitute goalkeeper Adán, got his second straight start in La Liga after his debut against Malaga in last December. However, the unfortunate "Canterano" was shown a direct red card with only 6 minutes played in the first half, after fouling an opponent inside the penalty area, and which led to Iker Casillas coming in shortly after. From that point onwards, Real Madrid struggled to dominate midfield and only a vintage Cristiano Ronaldo managed to rescue the Merengues from another slip in the league, as he added another brace to his goal tally this season. The FIFA Balon d'Or ceremony will be held in Zurich tomorrow (January 7), but at this stage, there's not much hope in any positive outcome for the Portuguese superstar, given the favoritism from Barcelona's ace, Lionel Messi.

Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Real Madridvs Real Sociedad
Real Madrid 4-3 Real Sociedad goals and highlights:

This Sunday night, Ronaldo also took the opportunity to premier his new football boots, the Nike CR Mercurial IX cleats. There are no mitre footballs being used in theSpanish League, but it would surely be interesting to see how Ronaldo would adapt to other footballs, different from the traditional ones from Nike. This new football boots model intends to celebrate several landmarks regarding Ronaldoaccomplishments in 2012, and they have imprinted a serie of numbers with particular meanings for each one of them. 1 (La Liga title won in 2012), 9 (the goals scored forPortugal in 2012), 14 (the games played for Portugal in 2012), 19 (different teams against which Ronaldo scored in La Liga 2011-2012), 27 (Ronaldo's age), 55 (the number of games with Real Madrid last season, in all competitions), 60 (amount of goals scored in all competitions, in 2011-2012).

Not even 90 seconds were needed for Real Madrid to score their first goal in 2013.Sami Khedira picked a pass coming from the left, spotted Benzema escaping unmarked just in front of him and assisted the Frenchman for a far too easy goal. For a few moments, it didn't seem this game could get very complicated, but the truth is that the scenario would drastically change a few minutes later.

Four minutes after Benzema goal, the visitors reacted and got the equaliser from the 12 yards mark. An error from Ricardo Carvalho allowed Real Sociedad's Mexicanforward Carlos Vela, to go into a 1-on-1 situation with Adán, on which the formerArsenal striker decided to dribble the Merengues goalkeeper. Adán went to the ground in a first to attempt to block the shot, but got tricked and ended up clippingVela's foot. A penalty-kick was immediatly awarded to the visitors' side and Adán got sent off, forcing Iker Casillas to come over and play the rest of the game.

However, truth is Casillas couldn't have done much to stop Xabi Prieto's from scoring and tying things up. The Santiago Bernabéu fans were so happy when they saw Iker Casillas was about to return to the goal, that it almost looked like they didn't care that their own team had just been left out with 10 men from that point onwards and that a "Canterano" player as it is Adán, had just been sent off after an harsh decision from the referee. It might have been the way that most fans found out to express their disagreement with Mourinho's controversial decisions of pickingAdán over Casillas in the last two games, but it surely wasn't nice to see how Adánwas treated by his own fans, as he was still leaving the field...

With 10 men on the pitch, Real Sociedad's game plan for last night didn't change much, but it certainly became a lot easier. Real Madrid couldn't dominate midfield anymore (44% vs 56% at the end of the game) and what could have been an easy and calm night to kickoff things in the new year, turned into another tough battle to assure the 3 points, as seen in numerous occasions throughout this season so far.

It would be Real Madrid the side who managed to regain the lead still during the first half though... With 35 minutes on the clock, Mesut Ozil took a corner-kick on the right, saw the ball rebounding to Ricardo Carvalho and the Portuguese defender controlled it on the chest just before attempting to strike it towards Bravo's direction.Sami Khedira realized the shot had been a bit weak and was going wide, so he slightly deflected it, sending the ball in and making it 2-1 in the scoreline.

The visitors would reach a new equaliser still before the break and once again, thanks to their number 10, Xabi Prieto. Carlos Vela saw his shot being deflected onRicardo Carvalho's legs, but the ball was left precisely for Xabi Prieto, who controlled it and sent it past an helpless Iker Casillas. Everything got back at square one just like that, and Real Madrid would have to go chasing a new lead during the second half.

After the half-time, Real Madrid needed someone to step up and it was naturallyCristiano Ronaldo who showed up in the game and restored the lead once again. It all started in a great interception by Ricardo Carvalho still on his own team's half, who then quickly passed the ball to Karim Benzema, for the French striker to lob it over a defender and granting Ronaldo with several meters ahead of him to explore with his fast pace. The Portuguese forward seized the opportunity to hit it into the back of the net and the home side found themselves in front for the third time in the night.

Just two minutes after his first goal in 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo striked again and this time, from a superb free-kick taken on the left attacking side. The shot trajectory dipped significantly right before the ball got into Bravo's reach, which tricked the goalkeeper and allowed Ronaldo to collect his second goal on the night. Still twenty minutes left to be played, but with a two goals advantage obtained in just a couple of minutes thanks to CR7's contribution, the game seemed settled at that point. As a note of curiosity, Cristiano Ronaldo wore the captain's armband for Real Madridfor the first time ever in an official game (he had done it before in a friendly match against Kuwait). He even attempted to return it to Casillas shortly after the Spanishgoalkeeper came in to the game during the first half, but he was told by his teammate to keep the armband. That moment may have very well boostedRonaldo's confidence levels and helped him performing incredibly well last night...

There would still be time for another Real Sociedad goal though, once again scored by Xabi Prieto, who scored his first career hat-trick. Real Madrid's defence was leaving too many spaces on their back and Arbeloa's poor positioning allowed for his opponent to be left on-side, and to beat Iker Casillas with a crossed shot into the far post. With a quarter of an hour left on the clock, Real Madrid didn't make any more defensive mistakes that could somehow jeopardize the 3 points and managed to came off with the three points at the end. 4-3 at the Santiago Bernabéu and another thrilling game that we surely wouldn't recommend to people suffering from heart conditions...

As for tomorrow's FIFA Balon d'Or ceremony, it doesn't seem like the trophy will get away from Lionel Messi's hands anymore, but let's hope that Ronaldo has the opportunity to prove on the pitch, how unfair this decision might end up being. He'll have a great chance for that in one of the biggest games of the season scheduled for February 13, in an always exciting Real Madrid vs Manchester United super clash, at the Santiago Bernabéu. Nothing would please Ronaldo more (not even winning the FIFA Balon d'Or award!) than a high level performance against his former club and delivering the 10th UEFA Champions League to Real Madrid in May. You can read more on Ronaldo and football in general, at the "The Sport Review" news portal.

Real Madrid line-up vs Real Sociedad:

Goalkeeper: Adán

Defenders: Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Varane, Arbeloa

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Khedira, Mesut Ozil

Attackers: Callejón, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema

Real Madrid	vs	Real Sociedad
4	Goals	3
22	Shots	13
10	Shots on goal	5
4	Corner kicks	9
13	Fouls commited	13
2	Yellow cards	7
1	Red cards	1
44%	Ball possession	56%

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Celta de Vigo, for the Spanish Copa del Rey, on January 9, 2013. You can watch Real Madrid vs Celta de Vigo, Barcelona vs Cordoba, Manchester United vs Liverpool and Arsenal vs Manchester City, all matches provided from our football live streaming section.

Real Madrid next game:

Real Madrid vs Celta de Vigo kick-off time (09-01-2013):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+8: 03:30

Spain (Madrid) | GMT+2: 21:30

Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+1: 20:30

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-1: 18:30

New York (United States) | GMT-4: 15:30

Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-7: 12:30

Beijing (China) | GMT-7: 12:30