The original deadline expired last Friday but the new date has been set to take into account this week’s World Cup play-off matches, something that could work in the favour of Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who notched a stunning hat-trick in Portugal’s 3-2 win over Sweden.Ronaldo and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery are considered the favourites for an award that has been monopolised for the past four years by another contender, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, and Ribery also did his chances no harm by starring in France’s 3-0 victory over Ukraine in Paris.The Ballon d’Or will be presented on January 13 at a ceremony in Zurich’s Conference Centre.Read the original article on Football Espana - The ultimate website for English-speaking fans of Spanish football(http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/)ANN.Az