James Rodriguez: Ronaldo should win the Ballon d’Or with 99% of votes

Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez believes teammate Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Ballon d’Or by a landslide.

“It is an award all players dream of, but the Ballon d’Or is Cristiano’s right now,” the Colombia international said.

“He’ll win it again this year because he deserves it, simple as that. He should win with 99 per cent of votes.”

I suppose the Colombian international is accounting for the 1%, as Argentina boss Gerardo Martino recently revealed that he has and always will vote for Lionel Messi as long as he remains on the ballot.

Ronaldo is looking to dethrone Messi for the second year in a row after beating the Argentine to last year’s King of Football throne. The Portuguese international has had an outstanding year filled with personal accolades in addition to bringing Real Madrid to their long awaited “decima”, their tenth Champions League title.

Rodriguez, who recently picked up an injury in Real Madrid’s clash against Celta Vigo echoed the words of manager Carlo Ancelotti on the Ronaldo matter.

“As our coach said, there is a huge gulf between Cristiano and all the rest right now. His quality speaks for itself. He works very hard to be what he is: the best in the world.”

Real Madrid’s number 10 also took the time to dazzle some praise on his Italian manager.

“Ancelotti is a great coach and we talk often. He has taught me a lot these past few months. I’m working hard to keep learning from him.”

According to Rodriguez and Ancelotti, the key to a winning offense is a strong defense and that is the magic behind Madrid.

“He asks much more of everyone defensively speaking. That’s the key to Real’s current good form. The only way of achieving what we do is with humility. There’s no other way. Yes, it’s a very humble group.”