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Aside from the honors won as a team, individual honors have always had a special place in each footballer’s heart. One such award is the European Golden Shoe, which is awarded to the leading goal scorer plying his trade in any European top division. Ever since its inception, it has been hotly contested, but the past few years have been duopolised by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Is that set to change this season? And although there are some surprises so far this season, can anyone legitimately vie for the honor? So, let us take a serious look at the five favorites who stands a chance at getting the European Golden Boot.
5. Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Having won the Golden Shoe in each of the last couple of season, Messi was odds on favorite to repeat that feat at the start of the season. However, injuries have curtailed his season thus far and has meant that he has just made 12 League appearances and scored only 8 goals so far this season. Having said that, ever since he came back from his injury layoff, Messi has gotten back to his goal scoring best, notching up a brace in both legs against Getafe in the Copa del Rey in the space of a week.
All of which mean that, you shouldn’t count him out of the running for the European Golden Shoe just yet. But the truth is, he is so far behind the eight ball at the moment (already 14 goals behind) that it is difficult to see him catching up and winning it. But, you wouldn’t bet against him, and if there is one player capable of doing that, it is Messi. And that is why, with another half of the season coming up, Messi is right up there, among the favorites.
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain)
With the season just reaching the half-way mark, Zlatan has already made his mark, by winning the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal earlier this week. If there was one thing that was evident from Zlatan’s play, from his time at Ajax, it was the fact that he was a scorer of great goals. At the end of each season, he would almost have his own compilation of greatest goals of the season. But, over the past few years something has changed.
Although he had scored at least 20 goals since the 2007/08 season, the last couple of season has seen a sea of change in Zlatan. Not only did he break the 30 goal mark in each of his previous two seasons, he also finished with over 20 League goals, something he had done only once before, in his entire career. Zlatan had transformed himself into a great goal scorer and not just a scorer of great goals. And that is why, with 15 goals already this season, he is in with a shout of winning the European Golden Shoe.
3. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
Atletico Madrid have emerged as the surprise package in La Liga and have acquitted themselves very well against the top two already. And the man leading the charge is Diego Costa, who has been on a phenomenal run of form, since the start of the season. The Brazil born forward, who has declared his intentions to play for Spain, has been a revelation thus far and already has 19 League goals this campaign, more than twice as much as Messi and only three behind Luis Suarez, who is leading the charts with 22.
The 25-year-old forward has sprung from out of nowhere and now stands a legitimate chance of breaking the Messi-Ronaldo hegemony at the top of the goal scoring charts, not just in Spain, but in Europe as well. Prior to this season, he had only hit double digits once in his seven previous League campaigns and even that was last season, when he finished with 10. He has almost doubled his tally from last season and, with half a season to go, he looks like he might well finish with over 30 League goals this season. That is quite an achievement, for someone who had just over 50 career League goals at the start of this campaign.
2. Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
The man currently leading the goal scoring charts in all of Europe is the same man who only made his first League appearance towards the end of September. But, boy, has he made up for lost time since then. Because, ever since he started the season, the Uruguayan has been simply unstoppable. Luis Suarez, currently has 22 League goals in just 16 starts and at the current rate, is running away with the title.
Of those 22 goals, 10 of them came in a staggering spurt in December, which included a memorable four-goal display against Norwich at the start of the month. His 22 goals have included six braces and 2 hat-tricks. In fact, he has scored in 11 of his 16 Premier League starts and in the five games that he didn’t score in, his team have lost four and haven’t won even once. So, Liverpool would be hoping that he continues to score, not just for himself, but for the team’s sake as well.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
The reigning Ballon d’Or winner and leading goal scorer in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly the favorite to claim this year’s European Golden Shoe. And although Cristiano is two goals behind Luis Suarez, in the race to claim his third Golden Shoe, which would put him alongside Messi as the player with the most wins, he looks in red-hot form. Having scored at least 25 League goals in every season since signing for Real Madrid, Ronaldo certainly has experience in this regard.
Last season, Ronaldo finished with a paltry 34 League goals, which was his lowest his since debut season. This time around though, he already has 20 to his name and at this rate, is looking increasingly likely to break the 40 League goal mark for the third time in four seasons. Such is the precision to the Portuguese attacker’s instincts that even the arrival of another Galatico in Gareth Bale hasn’t stopped him from continuing in his merry way. And although he is second on the list right now, it should come as little surprise to anyone if he finishes this season on top, just like he did in 2008 and 2011.
