Ronaldo celebrates triumph with Madrid teammates

MADRID: Back in Spain and celebrating his Ballon d’Or triumph with his Real Madrid teammates, Cristiano Ronaldo is already being asked to do better.
Ronaldo, who beat Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery on Monday to win his second player of the year award, posed for a photo holding the trophy with the entire Madrid squad and coaches at training on Tuesday.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti called Ronaldo’s victory “great publicity for football,” but then called on the Madrid forward to lift his game.
“To me, winning a Ballon d’Or means even more responsibility. It won’t be easy to ask him for more with the numbers he’s put up, but I will,” Ancelotti said. “I like what he does very much, he’s always working hard to be even better. So this is a reward for all his hard work.” Ronaldo wept openly at the ceremony after ending Messi’s four-year run as the world’s best player by scoring 69 goals, including a Champions League-leading 12, in 2013.
“While this is an individual trophy, I’ve also won it because of the help of my teammates,” said Ronaldo, who celebrated his success with president Florentino Perez and teammates with champagne on the flight home from Zurich on Monday night.
Ronaldo’s teammates were quick to congratulate him on the club’s first outright Ballon d’Or winner since Alfredo di Stefano in 1959. Luis Figo, Ronaldo and Fabio Cannavaro won the award while playing for Madrid but had joined the team late in the calendar year.
“We expected to win the 2013 Ballon d’Or,” Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas tweeted after training, “your triumphs are ours too.” The 28-year-old Ronaldo has scored two goals in three games in 2014 and will look to bolster his numbers on Thursday when Madrid travels to Osasuna for a Copa del Rey match after winning the first leg 2-0.

Ancelotti surprised

Ancelotti has hailed Ronaldo’s work ethic. Ancelotti said he has been pleasantly surprised by his star player’s work rate during his first six months in charge of Los Blancos.
“His quality and ability to score goals hasn’t surprised me, but I have been a little bit surprised by his personality and the sacrifices he makes both on and off the field,” he said on Tuesday.
“There are many examples of players with great talent but without the consistency because they are not as professional as they could be.
“In modern day football, if you don’t work then you can’t show your talent. It is an indispensable combination.”

Work to do, says Pele

Ronaldo must continue to maintain his exceptional high standards in order to be classed among the sport’s legends, according to Brazil great Pele who compared the Portuguese to Eusebio.
Portugal and Real Madrid forward Ronaldo beat Argentine’s Lionel Messi and France’s Franck Ribery to claim the prestigious award for the second time on Monday.
“To me the last true great was (France playmaker Zinedine) Zidane. He stayed at the same very high level for at least 10 years,” Pele, who was awarded a honorary Ballon d’Or, told France Football magazine on Tuesday.
Ronaldo is on the right path, though, and reminded the three-times World Cup winner of former Portugal striker Eusebio, the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, who died earlier this month at the age of 71.
“Today Messi and Ronaldo are above the rest. Ronaldo reminds me a bit of Eusebio, he is well bred. He has the elegance and the creativity of the great players,” Pele said.
Winning the World Cup used to have greater significance in the voting for the Ballon d’Or but the success of Ronaldo and Messi, who won the award from 2009-12, proved that was no longer true, according to the Brazilian.
“It is perhaps less important than it used to be when I was playing,” Pele of the showpiece tournament that the duo will look to win for the first time later this year.

FIFA award winners
Ballon D’Or: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Honorary Ballon D’Or: Pele (Brazil)
Woman player of the year: Nadine Angerer (Germany)
Men’s team coach of the year: Jupp Heynckes (Bayern Munich/Germany)
Women’s team coach of the year: Silvia Neid (German national team)
Puskas prize for goal of the year: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden) for his goal against England in a friendly
President’s prize: Jacques Rogge (Belgium/former International Olympic Committee president)
’Fair Play’: Afghan Football Federation
FIFPro World XI: Manuel Neuer — Daniel Alves, Sergio Ramos, Thiago Silva, Philip Lahm — Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Franck Ribery — Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi.