Zinedane Zidane is defending Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or victory despite the fact that his fellow Frenchman Franck Ribery was one of the losers.

Ribery was seen by many as the favorite to take home the award due to his exceptional run with Bayern Munich in 2013. However, Zidane noted that while Ribery's efforts were laudable, Ronaldo simply had better individual stats.

"We're not going to cry out that it was a scandal, even if Franck undoubtedly deserved something given the season he had," Zidane said, according to ESPN. "The difference is certainly the 69 goals Cristiano scored. There are three criteria: what has been done with your club, what you do individually, and the player's image.

"For the next time, all of that needs to be clarified, because I think it's an individual award and it's above all what the player does on the pitch. Even if Franck has been exceptional, the other scored 69 goals."

Ronaldo did not win a single club trophy in 2013 while Ribery managed five with Bayern Munich. However, Ronaldo's torrid pace to close out the year seems to have tipped some votes in his favor. A controversial voting extension also seemed to push the vote in his favor as it allowed voters to consider the World Cup playoffs. During those playoffs, Ronaldo recorded a historic four-goal performance against Sweden over two legs. He scored the lone winner in the first leg at home before putting together a hat trick in Sweden to lead his nation to the World Cup finals in Brazil next summer.