Journey of Cristiano Ronaldo's 3 Ballon d'Or Awards

Cristiano Ronaldo has come a long way indeed. Coming from the small island of Madeira in Portugal, he has now become the recipient of multiple Ballon d’Ors, three to be precise. Already approaching his 30th birthday in February, the man is showing no signs of slowing down and he has already made his intentions clear about winning next year’s Ballon d’Or too.This achievement of his is a testament to his dedication and determination. Ronaldo has always maintained that he does not want to rest upon his past laurels and wants to keep on improving. His tremendous mental strength and his hunger for success have ensured that he has churned out consistent displays season after season.He has achieved success with the different clubs that he has been a part of as well as his national team, Portugal. Let us now take a look at the journey of his three Ballon d’Or triumphs which has taken him from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United and then to Real Madrid and the memories which he has given us to cherish for a lifetime.

#1 The start : Sporting Lisbon

Not many must be knowing this fact – Cristiano Ronaldo was on the verge of being aborted by his mother Dolores! What a big loss it would have been to the footballing world if that would have happened. Ronaldo was born in a poor family. His father was a gardener who struggled to make both ends meet. Ronaldo started to work at a young age in order to support his family.

However, his mother Dolores advised him to fully concentrate on the thing he loved doing the most – playing football. Ronaldo was highly talented and his talent was slowly noticed by the elite in Portugal and he got his first big break when he was signed up by Sporting Lisbon in 1997 at the age of 12. However, he got diagnosed with a serious heart problem at the age of 14, which threatened to derail his career.

Following a successful surgery, he got back to playing football. Within no time, he was back to his absolute best and his superb performances for Sporting Lisbon made the elite clubs of Europe stand up and take notice of his talents.

#2 Manchester United and first Ballon d\'Or in 2008

Back in the summer of 2003, Sporting Lisbon defeated Manchester United 3-1 in a friendly. Ronaldo’s outstanding performance in that friendly did not escape Sir Alex Ferguson’s attention and after the friendly, he was promptly signed by Manchester United for a fee of 12.2 million pounds. It was in Manchester United that Ronaldo developed into a world class player.

Under the watchful guidance of Ferguson, he slowly learnt the tricks of the trade and added versatility to his game. He also underwent a complete physical metamorphosis from the skinny teenager that he was when he arrived at United to a muscular athlete. He initially struggled, but soon he was firing on all cylinders. The 2007-2008 season was the breakthrough season for Ronaldo. It was this season that cemented his superstar status and made the world stand up in appreciation of his achievements.

In that season, he scored 42 goals in all competitions for Manchester United. In the process, he also helped Manchester United to a Premier League and a Champions League double. Ronaldo was simply unstoppable during this period. His performances and achievements did not go unnoticed and he won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008. In the process, he became the first Manchester United player after the legendary George Best to win a Ballon d’Or after 40 long years!

#3 Real Madrid : Evolution of a goal machine

After a long drawn transfer saga between Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo was finally sold by Manchester United to Real Madrid for a then world record fee of 80 million pounds in 2009. Life in Madrid was difficult at the start and trophies were hard to come by as there was a powerful Barcelona side at the peak of their prowess in his and Madrid’s way.

However, after initially taking some time adjust, Ronaldo was back to his best. From a pacy winger at Manchester United, he had now become a goal machine at Real Madrid. In 2011, he became the only player to score 40 goals in a La Liga season. By doing this, he also won the “European Golden Shoe” award and the “Pichichi” trophy. In 2011, he also scored the winning goal in Copa del Rey final, which Real Madrid won by defeating Barcelona 1-0.

He continued his rich vein of form in the 2011-2012 season too, which helped Real Madrid break Barcelona’s dominance and become La Liga Champions.

#4 Second Ballon d\'Or in 2013

Lionel Messi had won the Ballon d’Or four times in a row from 2009-2012. Many expected Ronaldo to wilt under the pressure. After all, there was the frustration of not winning the Ballon d’Or despite superb individual performances for Real Madrid and Portugal. But it was Ronaldo’s famed mental strength which kept him going in these challenging times. His moment of reckoning was about to come though.

After FIFA President Sepp Blatter decided to extend the deadline for voting for the Ballon d’Or, Portugal locked horns with Sweden in a World Cup play-off, which would decide which one of the two will be going to the World Cup 2014. Cristiano Ronaldo produced one of the outstanding individual performances when he scored a second half hat-trick in Portugal’s 3-2 second leg win over Sweden, which ensured that they would be going to World Cup 2014, at Sweden’s expense.

Incidentally, Ronaldo scored all of Portugal’s goals over the two legs against Sweden. That astonishing hat-trick coupled with another stellar season for Real Madrid, in which he scored 69 goals for them in the 2012/2013 season, ensured that Ronaldo ended Messi’s 4 year Ballon d’Or reign. Five years after he won his first Ballon d’Or in 2008, Ronaldo won his second in 2013. It was truly a well-deserved one.

#5 Third Ballon d\'Or in 2014

Yet another season, yet another consistent display. The 2013-2014 season was Cristiano Ronaldo’s year again as he went from strength to strength and broke many records in the process. He broke the record for maximum goals in a single Champions League campaign and his 17 goals in the 2013-2014 UEFA Champions League ensured that Real Madrid completed it’s long-standing dream of La Decima.

He scored 61 goals in all competitions in the 2013-2014 season. For this achievement of his, he was again awarded the “European Golden Shoe” and the “UEFA Best Player in Europe” award, among the plethora of other individual awards that he won for an outstanding season. This was the year when he also surpassed former Real Madrid legend Raul’s tally of 70 Champions League goals.

Ronaldo’s superb performances during the recently conducted Fifa Club World Cup also ensured that Real Madrid won the Club World Cup, comfortably and convincingly. The only minor blip was the World Cup 2014 flop. But, that also was due to the fact that Ronaldo was not fully fit during the World Cup.

After such an amazing year, how could Fifa even think of any other candidate for the Ballon d’Or? An incredible 2013-2014 season ensured that Ronaldo easily won his third award for the year 2014. This was his second consecutive Ballon d’Or triumph as he moved closer to Lionel Messi’s tally of four such trophies.

#6 Upcoming Challenges

Cristiano Ronaldo has raised the bar high with each passing year. Even though he’ll be turning 30 in February, given his incredible fitness, it can be safely assumed that Ronaldo will be at his best for at least another 2-3 years. Let us all hope that he continues to entertain us and keeps setting new benchmarks. His main challenge, however, is to guard against complacency and not let his motivation levels diminish.

We all know the incredible athlete that Ronaldo is and let us all hope that he wins more Ballon d’Ors in the future. Here is a video in which Cristiano Ronaldo’s journey of 3 Ballon d’Or triumphs is shown. It also includes quotes from legendary players and coaches along with some magical CR7 moments. Basically, everything that has been mentioned in this article is summed up in this video: