“It hurts”, Franck Ribéry’s big disappointment

Franck Ribéry expressed his enduring disappointment over missing out on the 2013 Ballon d'Or during an interview at the Festival dello Sport in Trento, Italy. Despite winning a historic treble with Bayern Munich—securing the Champions League, Bundesliga, and German Cup—the French winger finished third in the voting behind winner Cristiano Ronaldo and runner-up Lionel Messi.

Ribéry noted that failing to win the award after such an exceptional season was painful and difficult to accept, though he emphasized the need to move forward. The voting deadline had been controversially extended by FIFA from November 15 to November 29, 2013, coinciding with Ronaldo's decisive hat-trick for Portugal against Sweden in the World Cup playoffs.