Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah voted for Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for the 2013 World Best Player award ahead of Lionel Messi not knowing that he would be drawn to face Portugal at the 2014 World Cup.
Appiah exclusively told MTNFootball.com his Ballon d’Or 2013 vote was cast for his ‘World Cup enemy’ Cristiano Ronaldo.
Appiah, the man who has qualified Ghana to the World Cup, voted before FIFA’s surprise decision to extend the voting deadline which means it was done before the World Cup draw was held.
Little did he know, he would be coming up to face him and his Portugal side at the World Cup in Brazil.
Appiah faces the headache of hatching a plan to stop the Real Madrid icon on 26 June in Brasilia when they face in a final Group G match.
The ex-Ghana captain believes the Portugal captain is a shade ahead of Lionel Messi and last season’s treble winning Franck Ribery of France.
He has acknowledged Ronaldo’s striking form this year after his first-place vote went to Messi and then Robin Van Persie before Ronaldo in that order.
Ronaldo is in line to collect his second Ballon d’Or trophy and enhanced his case with his superb hat-trick in Portugal’s 3-2 World Cup playoff win over Sweden
The Ballon d’Or ceremony will be held in Zurich on 13 January.
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