Ronaldo's world hat-trick

Winning the FIFA World Player of the Year Award for the third time yesterday brings the curtain down on a momentous 12 months for Ronaldo.

A year ago, few thought it was possible - apart from Ronaldo himself and the Brazilian coach Luis Felipe Scolari - that the striker would recover his fitness and form after three injury-stricken years and score eight goals on the road to Brazil winning the World Cup.

"The turning point came on the day I came back in the Italian league, it felt like a turning point and made me realise that my career was not over," Ronaldo said recently.

"From our first match during the qualifiers, I realised that he (Ronaldo) would be our surprise player, our best goal scorer," reflected Scolari after the World Cup.

"Everyone said that here was an average player because he wasn't well, but I said it wasn't true.

"I said he could overcome anything but they just laughed at me," added Scolari, who stood firm in the face of considerable criticism over selecting Ronaldo for the World Cup finals.

Despite worries over his injury-prone knees, that thrilling performance in Japan and Korea secured a €45 million move from Inter Milan to Spain's European champions Real Madrid.

"This has been a wonderful year for me," Ronaldo said last night.

The award follows the European Player of the Year title he picked up on Monday.

He said: "It is a great honour to be nominated by FIFA after two hard years with doubts and injuries, but everything has worked out as I had hoped and I have finished the year with these awards."

He added: "Winning awards means nothing without the companionship of your team-mates and I share my awards with them."

Oliver Kahn and Zinedine Zidane hid their disappointment at losing out to Ronaldo in the final vote.

Kahn finished second with 171 votes, while Zidane was third with 148 votes, both trailing the Brazilian's tally of 387.

The German goalkeeper preferred to dwell on his pride at being put forward for the award.

"Being a goalkeeper, I think it is extraordinary I was nominated," he said.

"It's the first time a goalkeeper has been nominated for this award and it's very special."