Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in FIFA 17 with an overall rating of 94 in the latest offering of the famous football video game franchise. The Real Madrid forward had a successful calendar year of 2016, winning the Champions League with Los Blancos before lifting the European Championship with Portugal.
He also is their reigning Ballon d’Or winner, hence there is no doubting his standing as the best player in the world. However, like any other athlete, no footballer is perfect and neither is Ronaldo.
Despite the best efforts of FIFA 17 to make Ronaldo the all-round best player in the game, there are certain areas where the 32-year-old isn’t quite the best. As in real life, the virtual reality Ronaldo has chinks in his armour and in spite of his reputation as one of the most reliable penalty takers in the modern game, there are plenty who are rated higher than Ronaldo in the penalty attribute.
Here are the five players you might not have known are better than Ronaldo at taking penalties in FIFA 17.
#1 Rickie Lambert
The former Liverpool target man might have a modest overall rating of 72, but he is as safe as a bank from the penalty spot with an attribute rating of 96 for penalties. That rating puts Ronaldo’s rating of 85 to shame, suggesting that of all the good things that the Portuguese can do on a football pitch, he is not better than Lambert at taking penalties. Lambert might have had a career far less glamourous than Ronaldo, but he takes the cake in this category.
#2 Mario Balotelli
The feisty striker, who now plies his trade in the comfortable confines of Nice and has led his club to the Champions League next season, has been widely known as a penalty specialist at all the clubs that he has played for. Hence, it is no surprise that Balotelli’s rating of 92 for penalties overshadows Ronaldo’s 85. Despite being rated 81 overall, Super Mario can at least claim to be better than Ronaldo at taking penalties.
#3 Demba Ba
Ba, the former Chelsea front man, is higher rated than Ronaldo in penalties. The Senegalese striker’s overall rating is 79, way below Ronaldo’s 94, but it is a surprise that he can take better penalties than the Real Madrid star. Ba’s attribute rating for penalties is 89, four higher than Ronaldo’s 85. So, if you somehow end up having Ba and Ronaldo in the same team and earn a last-minute penalty, you know who is the safer bet to convert the penalty.
#4 Dirk Kuyt
The evergreen 35-year-old is still active and lighting up football pitches in the Netherlands, and it is Kuyt’s assuredness in penalty situations that was one of the hallmarks of his Liverpool career. In FIFA 17 as well, Kuyt retains his skill of being an ice-cold penalty specialist as despite having an overall rating of 75, the Dutchman rates higher than Ronaldo in penalties. Kuyt’s 87 rating for penalties is higher than Ronaldo’s 85.
#5 Lee Dong Gook
The 37-year-old South Korean striker, who plays for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, is rated 73 overall but he stills packs a bigger punch than Ronaldo in the penalty stakes. Lee’s penalties rating of 86 is just higher than Ronaldo’s 85, but to see a veteran Asian player eclipsing an attribute of the world’s best player deserves a mention in this list. However, Lee is not the oldest player to have a better penalties rating than Ronaldo as Francesco Totti and Timmy Simmons are also better in FIFA 17 than Ronaldo at taking penalties.
