Does Real Madrid and Portugal attacker Cristiano Ronaldo deserve to win the Ballon d’Or?
Cristiano Ronaldo produced a sensational display for Portugal last night to help his country to a 3-2 victory over Sweden in the second leg of the World Cup play-off tie.
The Real Madrid attacker had also scored the only goal of the game in the first leg.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick in the second leg was sheer brilliance and he basically dragged his country into the World Cup finals.
Deserving
Ronaldo really does deserve the Ballon d’Or this year. Even as a Barcelona and Lionel Messi fan I have to admit that Ronaldo’s form this year simply cannot be ignored. Messi has been good this year, but he maybe has not enjoyed his best year to date.
Messi is a fantastic footballer, but it is hard to argue about Ronaldo outperforming him. Ronaldo’s scoring stats are amazing.
Perception
Cristiano Ronaldo is without doubt one of the best players of his generation. I do not want to again enter into the debate about whether he is better than Messi or not. One quality that Ronaldo seems to lack is Messi’s humility.
The Portuguese star comes across as arrogant and self-obsessed. These qualities are not the most appreciated qualities in a human being and they have worked against him when the votes for the Ballon d’Or have been cast.
Had he been a more likeable person then maybe he would have won more awards and been more popular in the football world. If awards were judged solely on football ability Ronaldo would also have claimed more of them, but they are not.
There will always be politics involved in awards being handed out and perennial Ballon d’Or winner Messi is considered a nice guy and more of a team player than Ronaldo. Ronaldo is rightly or wrongly considered an arch-egotist, who thinks of himself first.
Unfortunate
Cristiano Ronaldo is rather unfortunate that he came along at the same time as somebody as highly-rated and popular as Lionel Messi. Had he been born at a different time or maybe in a different era then he may have got more recognition of his talent.
The former-Manchester United attacker always seems to be compared to Messi. Then again the best players in the world always get compared to their nearest rivals. Ronaldo cannot seem to be mentioned in a conversation or article without being compared to Messi (irony, I know, that I have done it, it seems impossible not to!)
Unfortunately, Messi is regarded as one of the best ever players and played in one of the best ever teams under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
Last season
The fact that Ronaldo failed to win a trophy last season may be a contributing factor to Ronaldo not claiming the Ballon d’Or. However, the Portuguese forward did find the net 55 times in as many appearances last season.
On the other hand Bayern Munich and France winger Franck Ribery, who is also a leading contender for the Ballon d’Or, won the Bundesliga title and the Champions League last season, as was arguably their most important player.
Messi meanwhile won La Liga with Barcelona and scored 60 goals in 50 appearances last season. However, the Argentinian has endured a difficult start to this campaign due to injuries and has 8 goals compared to Ronaldo’s 16 this season.
Stats
Cristiano Ronaldo’s stats for Real Madrid are absolutely incredible. The former-Manchester United star has 225 goals in 216 appearances (stats that better Messi’s), which by anybody’s reckoning is outstanding.
He is simply a goal machine and will no doubt continue to add to those amazing stats this season. The goals just keep flowing and Ronaldo keeps impresses for both club and country. At times the 28-year-old has carried his national team, simply because he can.
Favourite
On sheer football ability and stats Cristiano Ronaldo maybe be favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or. However, because of his image and who he is Ronaldo may again miss out on the big award.
For somebody that worries about his image so much, Cristiano Ronaldo does a terrible job at selling himself to his contemporaries and it could prevent him from claiming the second Ballon d’Or award of his career.
Surely Ronaldo now deserves the Ballon d’Or this year?
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