"I would vote for myself if I could," Ronaldo said in a 2012 interview with France Football.
"I'm content with who I am and what I am." Being overly modest is bad. We say in Portugal that vanity results from excessive humility.
Who, then, did he vote for? We've examined every athlete Ronaldo has supported throughout the years for FIFA's "The Best" and Ballon d'Or awards.
When Ronaldo cast his first ballot for the Ballon d'Or in 2010, he surprisingly chose to support a Barcelona legend. More carefree moments.
Given that Xavi had played a pivotal role in Spain's World Cup triumph that year, the yell seemed justified. However, a pessimist would argue that Ronaldo supported the midfield player because he thought he would be the most likely to confront longtime rival Lionel Messi in that particular election.
That season, Messi earned the second of his eight golden balls, sharing the podium with Andres Iniesta and Xavi. Even now, a photo of the three La Masia alums hangs on a wall in Barcelona's renowned academy.
2010 saw Ronaldo's Real Madrid captain, Iker Casillas, come in second. I wonder if they had any awkward conversations about his picking Xavi over him.
The goalie's incredible stop against Arjen Robben was a pivotal moment in Spain's World Cup victory that year. He placed seventh in that year's Ballon d'Or rankings, one spot behind Ronaldo.
After declaring his retirement, the Dutchman reflected, "People still come up to me and tell me that they feel I should have won the Ballon d'Or in 2010, but I keep telling them that winning the Champions League was nicer than an individual trophy."
It would have been the cherry on top, of course, but many tell me I should have won because it's satisfying enough.
Sneijder was arguably Inter's most notable player during their historic 2009–10 treble triumph. He finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or ranking after receiving Ronaldo's vote for third place.
If the Netherlands had defeated Spain in the championship game that year, you can only imagine how he would have obtained the trophy.
blogpay
