Cristiano Ronaldo put his enormous talent on display with a hat trick in World Cup qualifying, and the reward may be the Ballon dOr after a voting deadline extension on Wednesday improved his chances of beating out Lionel Messi for the honour. Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. 29. FIFA said it was reopening the deadline due to the low number of responses received by last Fridays original deadline, and invited voters to switch their preference. Ronaldo became the favourite on Wednesday to beat Messi and Bayern Munich forward Franck Ribery for the world player of the year award, which will be presented on Jan. 13. Portuguese and Spanish sports dailies splashed Ronaldos photo across their front pages on Wednesday, when FIFA president Sepp Blatter expressed his congratulations to Ronaldo in a tweet reading "fantastic performance." Ronaldo has scored 13 goals in six games since Blatter said last month that he preferred Messi, an Argentine who plays for Barcelona. Ronaldo has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season. "Every year I show what Im about. Ive scored 40 or 50 goals a season and thats not enough for everyone. Im not obsessed with the (Ballon dOr)," Ronaldo said Tuesday. "I did my job as I have been doing all season. I dont have to answer to anybody. I do my talking on the field." Ronaldo, who won the award in 2008, has watched as Messi has won the award the last four years. But Messi has the edge in trophies over Ronaldo after Barcelona won the Spanish league last season. Ribery helped Bayern win a treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles. Blatters slight -- when he said Ronaldo spent more time at the hairdresser and compared his on-field personality to that of a commander -- has seemed to energize the player, who also equaled Pauleta as Portugals record scorer with 47 goals. At the Friends Arena in Sweden, Portuguese fans carried a banner reading "Commander Ronaldo" in response to Blatters comments, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also appeared to applaud Ronaldos heroics. Ronaldos scoring run comes with Messi sidelined by injury and unable to add to his own collection of awe-inspiring goals. Messi is expected to be out until the end of December because of a hamstring injury. The Barcelona forward said his left leg was pain-free on Wednesday as he collected his third Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in Europes domestic leagues last season. Messi, who has scored 14 goals in 16 games this season, was not asked about Ronaldos performance or his Ballon dOr prospects during the presentation, when questions were not allowed. Ronaldo will take the field again Saturday when Madrid plays Almeria. Custom Detroit Tigers Jerseys . -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. Stitched Tigers Jerseys . 1 player in the world. So Duval gutted it out Thursday at the Byron Nelson Championship despite the pain from a muscle issue in his right elbow, a day after his stepson had to drive him because he couldnt even use that arm. https://www.cheaptigers.com/. The game marks the rare occasion when two homegrown running backs, Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders and Andrew Harris of the B.C. Lions, will start in the West Divisions battle for a Grey Cup berth. Detroit Tigers Store . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season. Detroit Tigers Shirts . - The Detroit Lions have 13 takeaways this season — three less than all of last season — and the defence isnt the only unit pleased with the performance. The rainbow colours two Swedish athletes painted their fingernails in support of gays and lesbians sent a clear message and brought a swift rebuke from a Russian star, perhaps even a glimpse of whats to come at the Sochi Olympics. Speaking at the world championships, pole vault gold medallist Yelena Isinbayeva condemned homosexuality and criticized the Swedes for their gesture critical of Russias new anti-gay legislation. The law, which bans gay "propaganda," has drawn sharp criticism and led some Western activists to call for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in the Russian resort. Isinbayeva won her third world title Tuesday before a boisterous home crowd, and drew even louder cheers Thursday when she received her gold medal. But before accepting it, the woman who will serve as "mayor" of one of the Sochi Olympic villages spoke in favour of the anti-gay stance. "If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people," Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion, said in English. "We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys. "Everything must be fine. It comes from history. We never had any problems, these problems in Russia, and we dont want to have any in the future." Swedish high jumper Emma Green Tregaro, who won a bronze medal at the 2005 worlds, and sprinter Mao Hjelmer sported rainbow colours on their fingernails for events at Luzhniki Stadium, which also hosted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. "The first thing that happened when I came to Moscow and pulled my curtains aside was that I saw the rainbow and that felt a little ironic," Green Tregaro said in a video posted on the website of the Swedish newspaper Expressen. "Then I had a suggestion from a friend on Instagram that maybe I could paint my nails in the colours of the rainbow and that felt like a simple, small thing that maybe could trigger some thoughts." Isinbayeva said it was wrong for the Swedes to make such a statement while competing in Russia. "Its unrespectful to our country. Its unrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians. Maybe we are different from European people and other people from different lands," Isinbayeva told reporters. "We have our home and everyone has to respect (it). When we arrive to different countries, we try to follow their rules." Russias new law does not explicitly ban participation in gay pride parades or promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality online, but anyone wearing a rainbow flag on the street or writing about gay relationships on Facebook, for instance, could be accused of propagandizing. The IOC and FIFA have asked the Russian government for more clarification. It remains unclear if the new law will be enforced during the Sochi Olympics or World Cup. The IAAF, the sports governing body, said the opinions of all athletes should be respected. "The IAAF constitution underlines our commitment to principle of nondiscriminaation in terms of religious, political or sexual orientation," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told The Associated Press.dddddddddddd "Allied to this is our belief in free expression as a basic human right, which means we must respect the opinions of both Green Tregaro and Isinbayeva." The International Olympic Committee declined to comment. "You will understand that at this stage we cannot comment on reported opinions/comments," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said. American middle-distance runner Nick Symmonds was shocked by Isinbayevas comments. Symmonds won a silver medal in the 800 metres at about the same time that Isinbayeva won her pole vault title. "Oh, my god. I cant believe she said that. Its bad," Symmonds told the AP. "For Yelena to come out and say we are normal, standard Russian citizens -- Im paraphrasing here -- and we dont stand for that. "I want to say to Yelena, You understand a very large portion of your citizens here are gay and lesbian people. They are standard people, too. They were created this way. For you to tell them that theyre not normal and standard, thats what were taking an issue with. Thats why we have to continue to demonstrate and to speak out against the ignorance that shes showing." Symmonds said he dedicated his silver medal to his gay and lesbian friends, as he said he would in a blog entry for "Runners World" before the championships began. "While I was here, I wanted to focus on athletics. I wanted to win a medal. That was my job," Symmonds said. "Now that Im done doing that job, if theres something I can do, if this gives me a platform to voice my opinion and speak out about the atrocities that Ive seen here, thats what Id like to do." Isinbayeva has set 28 world records and won seven major titles, including gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, but she said this week that she plans to take a break from the sport to have a baby. She was part of the team that helped Russia win the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Asked by Russian TV if she had any intentions of becoming a politician, Isinbayeva said: "I have blabbed so much today and, as usual, everything was turned upside down." Fans cheered when Isinbayeva entered the stadium to receive her gold medal and roared their approval when she stood on the top step of the podium, thrusting her arms in the air and jumping with glee. IAAF treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev of Russia put the gold medal around her neck and kissed her cheeks, and when the Russian anthem began, Isinbayeva started singing but soon broke down, burying her face in her hands. She quickly regained her composure and kissed her medal while the anthem played on. Before posing with American silver medallist Jenn Suhr and Cuban bronze medallist Yarisley Silva, Isinbayeva dried her eyes and checked her fingertips for smeared makeup. She was all smiles in the ensuing photos, and then addressed the adoring crowd, speaking into a microphone as her image flashed on giant screens. ' ' '