Stars congratulate Ballon d´Or winner Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his second FIFA Ballon d’Or on Monday, and congratulations flooded in for the Real Madrid forward.

The 28-year-old saw off the challenge of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich forward Franck Ribery to lift the award at an awards ceremony in Zurich.

Here we look at the reaction of the football world to the Portugal international’s achievement:

“Congratulations @Cristiano! You deserve it!” – His club wrote on their official Twitter page.

“The winner of the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or is Cristiano Ronaldo. Congratulations from FC Barcelona!” – Ronaldo’s rival club paid respect to the 2013 winner on Twitter.

“Congratulations to @Cristiano for his second Ballon d’Or and to Messi and Robery for an incredible 2013.” – Spain international Gerard Pique tweets his praise for all of the top three.

“Congratulations in advance to @Cristiano Ronaldo for winning #BalonDeOro. #2013 #BestInTheWorld.” – Former Netherlands international Ruud van Nistelrooy lauds the Portuguese via Twitter.

“Congratulations to @Cristiano for winning his 2nd #BallondOr and proud that he listened to my tips to improve his game…. Nice guy also!!” – Ronaldo’s ex-United team-mate Edwin van der Sar tweets his tribute.

“Very proud to win the Ballon d’Or for the second time, it means so much to me. I thank my teammates. Great fans lead to great moments. Thank you!” – The man himself thanks those who helped him win the award.

“Ronaldo is a beautiful Ballon d’Or winner but I am very disappointed for Franck Ribery. Sincerely, next year and the year after that it will come back to Messi or Ronaldo again.” – UEFA president Michel Platini congratulates the winner but tells L’Equipe he is disappointed for French compatriot Ribery.