Cristiano Ronaldo won his third Ballon d'Or at the FIFA ceremony in Zurich to edge within one of his eternal rival Lionel Messi

ZURICH, Switzerland Portuguese and Real Madrid great Cristiano Ronaldo won his third Ballon d’Or on Monday at the FIFA ceremony in Zurich to edge within one of his eternal rival Barcelona’s Argentinian magician Lionel Messi.

The 29-year-old forward – who played a key role in Real Madrid’s charge to a 10th Champions League trophy – beat Messi and Germany’s World Cup winning goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Ronaldo was the star of the night in which Real teammate James Rodriguez won the goal of the year award and Germany’s Joachim Loew was declared coach of the year.

“I would like to thank my mother, to my father, who is in heaven and who is looking down on me, to my family,” said Ronaldo.