ZURICH // The Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named the world’s best footballer for the second time on Monday night, preventing his great rival Lionel Messi from winning the award for a fifth year in succession.
Messi, the Argentine, was hampered by uncharacteristic injury problems at Barcelona late in the year. He and the Frenchman Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich were the other candidates for the prize, officially known as the Fifa Ballon d’Or.
“Thank you to everyone, my teammates, the national team and my family, to everyone here,” an emotion Ronaldo said.
“Eusebio and Mandela were very important for me,” he added, referring to the former Portugal great and to Nelson Mandela, the first president of post-apartheid South Africa, each of whom died recently. “I can’t speak.”
Jupp Heynckes, now retired, was named coach of the year for the first time after his Bayern Munich team won an unprecedented Uefa Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble.
Ronaldo was also voted Fifa Player of the Year in 2008, before Messi began a run of four titles.
In 2010 and 2011, the award was fused with the Ballon d’Or award previously handed out by France Football magazine.
Although Ronaldo did not win any major titles last season, he has been unstoppable in scoring goals. The Portuguese, 28, has 20 Spanish Primera Liga goals this season for Real Madrid and netted a record nine times in the Champions League group stage.
The high point of his year, however, came with Portugal, when he scored a stunning hat-trick, and almost single-handedly beat Sweden 3-1 in the second leg of their World Cup play-off tie to send his country through to the World Cup finals.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic won the Ferenc Puskas award for the year’s best goal, which came in Sweden’s game against England in November.
Fifa also gave out a special award to the former great Pele for his contribution to the sport.
A tearful Pele who also presented Ronaldo his award, said: “I was jealous of those guys getting the Ballon d’Or because I could not win it because I didn’t play in Europe. Now I have my trophy.”
The Portugal star’s display in Stockholm was so impressive it seemed certain to sway voters at a time when Messi was sidelined by his third injury of the year.
Still, Fifa spokesman Walter De Gregorio clarified on Monday that the standings were unchanged by the voting rules adjustment, which raised the turnout from around 50 to 88 percent.
Ronaldo said earlier in the day that he made peace with Fifa president Sepp Blatter, whose stated personal preference last October for Messi sparked speculation that the eventual winner would snub the ceremony.
“We talked over the telephone and everything was cleared,” Ronaldo at a news conference before the ceremony. “This is no longer an issue, neither for us nor for football.”
Germany dominated the other major awards, with goalkeeper Nadine Angerer named women’s player of the year ahead of United States forward Abby Wambach, last year’s winner, and Marta of Brazil.
Though Ribery lost, Bayern got one victory as Jupp Heynckes won the coaching award for leading the team to a Uefa Champions League, Bundesliga and national cup treble last season before he retired. Heynckes defeated Juergen Klopp, whose Borussia Dortmund team lost the all-German Champions League final, and Alex Ferguson, who retired after winning another Premier League title for Manchester United.
Germany national team coach Sylvia Neid won the women’s award, beating Sweden coach Pia Sundhage and Ralf Kellermann, who led Wolfsburg to the Champions League title.
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