Cristiano Ronaldo the - 23 years old - young Portuguese winger player, has won the Golden Ball Award, organized by the France Football magazine, Ballon d'Or, becoming the fourth Manchester United player to win this award and the first since fellow winger George Best in 1968. also the first Premier League player to win since Liverpool forward Michael Owen in 2001, and the first Portuguese player since winger Luis Figo who won it with Real Madrid in 2000, and the third after Eusebio in 1965.

Ronaldo's achievements with his team Manchester United, winning the European Champions League and Priemiere League for the last season, scoring 42 great goals, and his great efforts flavored with charming soccer play with his national team Portugal forced everyone to vote for the Golden Boy, deserving the Golden Ball with no doubts!

Cristiano Ronaldo said: "I am only 23 and it's magnificent. Unbelievable. It's even better considering all the big names in contention this year", "Lionel Messi is second and Fernando Torres is third, but also Xavi (Hernandez, in fifth place)."

Last year Flash Back (2007 Ballon d'Or):
Cristiano Ronaldo was second with 277 points, Messi was third with 255. and the winner was Kaka, Milan's Brazilian playmaker, who slipped down to the eighth position in this year's award.

Cristiano Ronaldo

2008 Ballon d'Or voting

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd) 446 points
2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 281 pts
3. Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 179 pts
4. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 133 pts
5. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona) 97 pts
6. Andriy Arshavin (Zenit St-Petersburg) 64 pts
7. David Villa (Valencia) 55 pts
8. Kaka (AC Milan) 31 pts
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan) 30 pts
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 28 pts
11. Marcos Senna (Villarreal) 16 pts
12. Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) 12 pts
13. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 11 pts
14. Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) 10 pts
15. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 8 pts
16. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) 7 pts
17. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) 6 pts
18. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) 5 pts
19. Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) 4 pts
21. Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) 3 pts
24. Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), 2 pts

Recent BALLON D'OR Winners:

2007: Kaka (Brazil)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2005: Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2004: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
2003: Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
2002: Ronaldo (Brazil)
2001: Michael Owen (England)
2000: Luis Figo (Portugal)