When asked whether his performance in Stockholm was motivated by proving a
point to Blatter, Ronaldo said: “I do not have to prove anything to anyone.
I think I have come to show what I am in the last years, scoring 40-50 goals
every season, it is there for anyone to see and it reflects the player I am.
Am I the best in the world? I am not obsessed with it. I try to do my work,
both in the squad as the club and give answers on the pitch.”
Ronaldo’s claims for the Ballon d’Or were supported by his Portuguese
team-mates, with Miguel Veloso insisting that it would be an “injustice” if
the 28-year-old was to be overlooked. “He is a machine,” Veloso said. “This
performance demonstrated once again his entire quality. There is no doubt
about his value to Portugal.
“It would be an injustice if Ronaldo was not the winner [of the Ballon d’Or].
He had nothing to prove in these two games because he has done an excellent
job with the national team and his club. This was another example.”
Fernando Gomes, the Portuguese Football Federation president, said: “Cristiano
Ronaldo is the best player in the world and today proved it. He gave us an
exhibition. He has had an extraordinary year and he deserves to win the
Ballon d’Or.”
Messi may have won each of the three Ballons d’Or handed out by Fifa since it
claimed ownership of the award from France Football magazine in 2010, but
with the Barcelona forward likely to be sidelined until the new year with a
hamstring injury, the Argentine will do well to affect the extended voting
from the treatment table.
As a result, Ronaldo’s display against Sweden has placed Blatter and Fifa in
an uncomfortable position. With Messi recuperating from his latest hamstring
injury, Ronaldo is free to embellish his awe-inspiring statistics on a
game-by-game basis just when votes are being cast.
This season, Ronaldo has scored 32 goals in 20 games, including five
hat-tricks. During the calendar year, he has scored 66 goals in 55 games.
Franck Ribéry, Bayern Munich’s French winger, is another leading contender for
the award and can outdo both Messi and Ronaldo thanks to his haul of
trophies with the German champions this year. A Champions League, Bundesliga
title and German Cup have been added to Ribéry’s CV and tangible success
often counts for much more than individual achievements and statistics.
But it is likely to boil down to Messi versus Ronaldo once again and the swift
tweet from Blatter following Portugal’s victory in Sweden, where he
congratulated Paulo Bento’s team and Ronaldo, may prove significant.
Whether it was genuine congratulations or a coded message to massage Ronaldo’s
ego and repair the damage of last month’s verbal spat, only Blatter will
know. But if Ronaldo continues in his current form – he is now carrying
Portugal as single-handedly as Diego Maradona carried Argentina in the 1986
World Cup – he will be a worthy winner of the Ballon d’Or.
Fifa and Blatter know they must do everything possible to get him onside
before Jan 13 to avoid the prospect of their most prestigious individual
award being left uncollected by a player who believes he has been shown a
lack of respect for too long.