As the year reaches its end, the quest for the next Ballon d’Or holder begins. With both the Copa America 2016 and Euro 2016 being played this year, this was the best chance to judge both South American and European stars—and that is what happened.
While Luis Suarez failed to feature for Uruguay in their dismal Copa America campaign, Lionel Messi’s frustration of losing a third consecutive final reached to the point where he called it quits with the national team (only to return a few months later).
Antoine Griezmann has had a stellar season himself, but with more goals and team titles, it is Cristiano Ronaldo who is the frontrunner to win the most prestigious individual accolade of them all.
And here are five reasons why he is deserving of it…
#1 Top scorer and assister for Real Madrid
First thing’s first. The Ballon d'Or is an individual accolade for the best player in the world for that year. Hence, the number of goals and assists an attacker makes becomes the most important factor in choosing the winner.
While defenders and midfielders could also win this award, the reality is that the Ballon d’Or is now a race among attacking players, the goalscorers. As sad as it might sound, this is what the case with the competition right now is.
Therefore, as a forward, it is absolutely vital that Cristiano Ronaldo has goals and assists besides his name to be in the look-in for this prestigious award. And that, he has.
With 51 goals and 15 assists in all competitions last season, he was Real Madrid’s top goal scorer. Not only that, he scored 10 goals more than his closest competitor Lionel Messi while only providing one assist lesser than the Argentine.
#2 Won the Champions League
This might be an individual accolade, but team results count here too. And it is only fair. After all, whether a player’s performances carried the team to glory must also be taken under consideration.
With Cristiano Ronaldo, this quota has also been fulfilled. He scored 16 goals in the Champions League last season, playing the biggest role in Madrid’s road to La Undecima. People might be accusing the Blancos of having it easy in the Champions League after being drawn with relatively easier teams, but that doesn’t make the Portuguese’s goals any less incredible.
What we can say for sure that had it not been for his goals, the Galacticos would have ended their season without a single trophy to their name.
#3 Won Euro 2016
This is perhaps the biggest reason as to why he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or over any player this year. The biggest criticism the Portugal captain faced was his lack of accolades with the national team. In every tournament, he gave it his absolute best, but it was just not enough.
However, his time came. And it came right after Leo Messi’s failure; making it somewhat more glorious in the eyes of his fans.
After leading Portugal to the final of the Euros, although scrappily, he had to leave the pitch in the penultimate game of it all due to an injury. However, Eder scored the only goal of the game and gave Portugal its first ever title.
Even though he might not have had much of a say in the final, his performances prior to that played a crucial role in getting his side to that point. More than that, however, it was his…
#4 Leadership skills
We all know how superb a player Cristiano Ronaldo is. In an era where Lionel Messi is heads and shoulders above the rest, the Portuguese has only two fewer Ballon d’Ors than his Argentine counterpart—the gap could become even lesser by the time the Ballon d’Or gala ends.
However, when it comes to leadership, the Real Madrid man is some way ahead of La Pulga.
Despite constant failures with a lopsided Portugal team over the years, the Portugal captain kept going and inspired his team-mates to do the same. After the Portuguese was subbed off in the final of the game, he was seen rallying his team-mates from the touchline.
For that moment, it felt like Portugal had two coaches in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Santos.
#5 Unstoppable determination
This is truly what sets him apart from the rest: his unstoppable determination. Despite being one of the most hated footballers, despite being labeled as an inferior player to Lionel Messi, despite being judged on every move that he makes, he still goes on no matter what.
It is this hunger for being the best is what is keeping him going.
When he was out injured in the final, initial reports claimed that he would be out for five months, but here he is, back in two months and starting games for Real Madrid.
The way he maintains his physical shape is a telling testament in itself about his diligence and love for the game. And this year, it was these same attributes that churned out a glorious time with both Real Madrid and Portugal.
