You can hate Ronaldo but you can't deny him the Ballon d'Or

Fifty six appearances, 4542 minutes on the pitch, 296 shots, of which 160 were on target, with a chance conversion of 22.3 percent, 97 crosses and 94 chances created out of which 15 ended up as assists, 1901 passes made out of which 79.2 percent reached their mark and 76.3 percent came in the attacking half, a total of 66 goals including nine hat-tricks, 40 matches won, 10 drawn and lost just six. You can hate Cristiano Ronaldo but you cannot deny him the crown of being the world’s best football player in 2013. After four years of being overshadowed by the achievements of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo has finally ended his wait for a second Ballon d’Or — receiving 1365 votes while Messi had 1,205 and Ribery got 1,127. A clearly emotional Ronaldo had tears in his eyes as he collectedly the award from Pele, showing just how much it meant to him. [caption id=“attachment_1337445” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Cristiano Ronaldo scored 66 goals in 2013. Reuters[/caption] While Ribery had his best season so far with Bayern Munich in the last campaign — the Germans sweeping the Champions League beating Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate on their way to club football’s elite trophy — and Messi winning the La Liga with his team scoring 100 points through the season — Ronaldo, despite winning nothing, still stands out. What a player’s team won is considered a big game-changer in the voting. This is slightly flawed — Ronaldo was simply the best player in the year for club and country — and the fact that his team failed to win a major trophy hasn’t and should not affect his record. While his team fell behind in the race for titles, Ronaldo kept going, and going and going — and how. And a lot of this is down to the fact that he was out to prove a number of things in 2013. And at every instance he’s been put down by the media or by someone else, he hits back even harder. The more you criticise him, the more he shines. It’s like a smoldering log in a fire — stoke it and it burns brighter every time. Keep stoking it and it will eventually catch fire. Sepp Blatter and Jose Mourinho know this all too well. While Ronaldo responded to Mourinho’s ‘real Ronaldo’ jibe with a stunning freekick against Chelsea and a celebration which made it very clear what he thought of his former manager’s claims — he embarked on a remarkable run of form after Blatter’s comments on him at Oxford University. If it was any other football man, he may not have said it so openly — but the Fifa chief being what he is like — said that Ronaldo was like a commander on the pitch and enacted a mish-mash of a march and salute in front of the cameras. He then said one has more expenses for his hair and that he preferred Messi — a good boy who every mother and father would like to have at home. Real Madrid got an apology from Blatter but in fact they should have thanked him. After the comments, Ronaldo scored nine goals in four matches including two hat-tricks and a salute celebration to mock Blatter. 20 days after the comments, he struck a hat-trick sending Portugal to the World Cup. He is that sort of player — he blends his insatiable ego with blistering pace, an incredible physique, two strong feet, thumping freekicks and soaring headers. But he also hugs his fans in the middle of the pitch and saves them from a ridiculous charge with a compassionate letter, he gives his jerseys away to the front row of handicapped fans and he sent a shirt signed by the entire Real Madrid team to a kid who broke his wrist trying to block a Ronaldo freekick which went into the stands. Messi and Ribery have their good times — the former’s injury clearly hampering his otherwise phenomenal record. But that is not Ronaldo’s fault. “I did my job as I have been doing all season. Every year I show what I’m about. I’ve scored 40 or 50 goals a season and that’s not enough for everyone.” This time though it was. The writer tweets @TheFalseNo9