*WILL this be the year?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the two
football mega stars operating in another stratosphere in recent seasons, but
when it's come to the Ballon d'Or while both have been at their peak, the
diminutive Argentine has shaded his more glamorous Portuguese rival.
Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year and France
Football's Ballon d'Or gongs in 2008 while at Old Trafford, but since both
awards were merged, Messi has got the money.
This year, plenty of people suspect it might be different,
particularly since the voting period was extended to include Ronaldo's
herculean efforts in almost single-handedly carrying Portugal through its World
Cup playoff against Sweden to progress to the finals in Brazil, the icing on
the cake after a wonderful qualifying campaign, which included a 30-minute
hat-trick against Northern Ireland to bail his side out from 2-1 down.
Ronaldo's goalscoring feats were typically outstanding
during the voting period, with 68 in 57 games - more than his two contenders -
including two goals against Barcelona
that knocked Real's fierce rivals out of the Copa del Rey and 14 in the
Champions League. Remarkable.
No comments:
Post a Comment