Fifa Ballon d'Or: Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to win ahead of Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi, say readers of The Independent

We asked you who deserved to win among the three short-listed players

Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Fifa Ballon d'Or according to readers of The Independent.

The former Manchester United player, who left Old Trafford for the Bernabeu in an £80m deal in 2009, took 66 per cent of a readers' vote.

Lionel Messi came second, with 22 per cent while Franck Ribery, the stand-out player in Bayern Munich's treble winning season, was third with 13 per cent of the votes.

Ronaldo appears to have been recognised for an incredible year on a personal front. In 52 appearances for club and country he notched an astounding 62 goals including eight hat-tricks. His crowning moment was the four goals scored for Portugal in the World Cup play-off against Sweden as he single-handedly dragged his country to the finals in Brazil this summer.