I don’t believe in Ballon d’Or and FIFA Best anymore: Ronaldo
Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo said he 'no longer believed' in two of football's greatest individual accolades after he won three awards at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Friday.
The 38-year-old won the Best Middle East Player, the Maradona Award for the best goalscorer of 2023, and the Fans' Favourite Player of the Year award at the ceremony which saw 2023 Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA best men's player Lionel Messi get snubbed.
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Ronaldo, who finished 2023 as the top goalscorer in the world for club and country with 54 strikes, beating Harry Kane (52), Kylian Mbappe (52), and Erling Haaland (50), was critical of the awards and stated that onus should be given to numbers.
"We have to analyse the entire season. It's not to say that Messi didn't deserve the award, or Haaland or even Mbappe, I simply no longer believe in these awards," Ronaldo told Record. "It's not because I won at the Globe Soccer but these are facts, numbers are there and they don't deceive.
"They can't take this trophy away from me because it's a reality, I'm happier because the numbers are facts".
"If you go back and see what happened at Man United and Portugal, people actually considered me lost…"."But the truth is that I focused and had a great period at Al Nassr, that's why I scored 54 goals."
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo insisted on Friday that the often derided Saudi Pro League was "more competitive" than French Ligue 1 as he boasted his goal-scoring feat.
"To be honest, I think the Saudi championship isn't worse than the French championship. I think it's more competitive," he said at the Globe Soccer Awards.
Ronaldo would have a chance to back his words and substantiate his numbers when his side will take on Messi's Inter Miami in a friendly on February 1 in Saudi Arabia.
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