Eyes rolled unimpressively as Cristiano Ronaldo got crowned – for the second time in a row – the Best Player of the Year in 2017 by FIFA.
Simply the Best
The Portuguese was an obvious choice and a foreseen winner in front of his arch rival Leo Messi as two of the world’s best players continued to scoop individual honours and extend their global dominance.
Perhaps an eye-roll here and a yawn there came as underappreciation for Cristiano Ronaldo’s impressive achievements over the course of past 12 months. As Portuguese superstar moves closer to (highly likely) sweeping the Ballon d’Or prize as well, a recap of numbers in 2017 is in order – if nothing else than at least – to act as a reminder of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ongoing brilliance both for club and country and his insatiable desire to always be best.
A full decade of either Messi or Ronaldo dominating the football scene individually is behind us and the claims that both the Argentine and the Portuguese are incomparable in their own excellence can be backed with some strong facts.
This turn in particular – when talking about the five-time winner of the FIFA best award Cristiano Ronaldo – the facts speak volumes.
Impressive Achievements
Cristiano Ronaldo guided Real Madrid to the La Liga crown in 2017 and his club is offered just behind Barcelona at 6/4 betting odds to defend the title.
The Portuguese has also won the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, the coveted Champions League title, while he also grabbed a FIFA World Club Cup victory. Following the formidable Euro 2016 exploits when he led Portugal to the European glory in France, Cristiano Ronaldo once again played a vital role in his country’s run towards a place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The list hardly ends there as individual achievements also provide plenty of backing for the choice captains of the national selections made in voting Ronaldo FIFA’s Best Player of the Year. Champions League top scorer for the fifth season in a row, UEFA best striker and best footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo also won the Ballon d’Or in 2017, whereas he was also the top scorer of the 2017 FIFA World Club Cup in UAE.
Let us not forget a couple of remarkable achievements such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-tricks against Bayern Munich and on two separate occasions against Atletico Madrid. Crucial Champions League goals against Borussia Dortmund and Juventus only paint a brighter picture while finishing the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with 15 goals to his name only comes as a cherry on top.
The 2017 saw Cristiano Ronaldo become the first player to score in three finals in the Champions League era. Cristiano Ronaldo was also credited with playing a major part in helping his club become the first club to win consecutive Champions League titles.
Other notable 2017 results include:
- 44 goals in 48 games
- 33 goals in 37 club matches
- 11 goals in 11 international outings
- Reached 100 Champions League goals mark
- Reached 600 career goals milestone
Numbers such as these are more than enough to turn each roll of the eyes on an unimpressed yawn into a pair of raised eyebrows and jaw slapped on the floor.
Such strong facts also act as fuel to Cristiano Ronaldo’s insatiable desire to be – and remain – the world’s best which – albeit the main reason people don’t like him – remains one of the best traits in him as a raw professional.
Insatiable Desire
Cristiano Ronaldo rejects his status as the second-best and thinks of it as a status of mediocrity and uses every chance he gets to flaunts his apparent superiority both on and off the pitch.
Aware that time is against him – and his foe Leo Messi – Cristiano Ronaldo has even bigger desire to top the Barcelona wizard. The Portuguese star is 32, Leo Messi 30 and perhaps 2017 could be the final year this pair will be such an obvious choice with the individual prizes.
Neymar left Barcelona in order to throw himself under the spotlight and is doing a wonderful job at the beginning of his new life at PSG, whereas his teammate – the Golden Boy Kylian Mbappe – is also rushing forward in an unstoppable stride.
How long before any of those emerging players overthrow Ronaldo (and Messi) from the pedestal?
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