13.11.2019 » Can Ronaldo still win the Ballon d'Or 2019?
The 2019 Ballon d'Or will be 64th annual ceremony recognizing the best footballer in the world in 2019 and it wil be presented by the renowned magazine France Football. The award was started by sports writer Gabriel Hanot in 1956, honoring the best male player from a season's holistic analysis, based on votes cast by football journalists, coaches, and captains of national teams. The winner of the 2019 Ballon d'Or will be announced in Paris on December 2, 2019. Among the top contenders for the award is Cristano Ronaldo, the Juventus forward and captain of the Portuguese National Team. The Juventus superstar is the joint-highest winner against Argentina's Lionel Messi, having already scooped the award five times.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Ballon d'Or 2019:
As Ronaldo moves to the twilight of his football career, he certainly hopes to scope more awards as the greatest player of all time. He has highlighted his accomplishments just last year, hoping to add the Ballon d'Or 2019 award to his accomplishments and feel as rich as a Powerball jackpot winner. Besides only boasting of middling goal-scoring statistics compared to his own lofty standards, below are a few more reasons why Ronaldo could end up winning the Ballon d'Or 2019, this December.
Portugal's captain in the UEFA Nations League triumph
The UEFA Nations League became the latest addition to international competitions when it debuted in September of 2018. The tournament was brought in by UEFA, mainly in an attempt to increase the competion level between nations and reducing the number of pointless friendlies during the international breaks. Amid the complex formalities and relegations of the competition, the major takeout is that this trophy final stage leads to a 4-team contest and this year it was up to Netherlands, England, Switzerland and Portugal. The Seleção progressed to the finals after dispatching the Swiss in the semifinals, courtesy of a memorable Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick. The Portuguese Team progressed on to lift the first ever edition of the UEFA Nations League. With this new achievement, Ronaldo has now captained his national team for the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and also the UEFA Nations League in 2019.
Delivering when it matters...
Despite scoring 28 goals in an all competitions and failing to lead Juventus to UEFA Champions League glory, Cristiano Ronaldo has stepped on stage when it mattered the most. For instance, during the Super Coppa Italia, Ronaldo was there to defend his team against AC Milan and scored the winner deep inside the second half. He also rose to the occasion for Juventus during the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, in the knockout rounds. Against a defensively solid team and with a 2-goal deficit walking into the second leg, Ronaldo showed his best version in Turin and delivered a hat-trick that allowed the Bianconeri to go through to the next round and keep their European dream alive.
On the international scene and as we pointed out before, Ronaldo stood up for Portugal in the group matches of the UEFA Nations League, even after taking a break from the Seleção following the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Thanks to his great performances for Juve in the last campaign, Ronaldo was named the Serie A most valuable player of the season and also received the most coveted MARCA Legend Award as a professional footballer. Considering his advancing age and adaptability to new leagues, Ronaldo has proven over and over to be extremelly valuable for the teams he plays for when they most need him.
The lack of real competition...
Virgil van Djik and Lionel Messi are the only names currently being mentioned of deserving the Ballon d'Or 2019, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. For the 28-year old Liverpool center back, he has only the Champions League to highlight his efforts in 2019. Messi, on the other hand, has been at the top like Ronaldo over the last decade. The Argentine, despite performing brilliantly throughout the season and winning a host of accolades, came up short in the Champions Leagues and in the Copa del Rey, and has only the Spanish League and the Spanish Super Cup to present this year.
With Hazard, Mbappé and Sterling coming close to the top of contenders for the award, their efforts still cannot match those that Ronaldo has shown. For the Portuguese, not winning the Ballon d'Or 2019 would simply mean that there has to be a player who significantly outperformed him across all competitions in the last season. A full look across Europe reveals us that there are not that many players in a position to contest the award with CR7.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal in the EURO 2020 Qualifiers is on November 14, against Lithuania. You can watch Portugal v Lithuania, France v Moldova, Spain v Malta, England v Montenegro, Turkey v Iceland, and Romania v Sweden, all matches provided from our streaming live game pages.
Juventus next game:
Portugal vs Lithuania kick-off time (14-11-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 01:15
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / marca.com / uefa.com / givemesport.com
