Putting Portugal on the pedestal along with conquering the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the obvious choice for the fourth Ballon d’Or, cites Zinedine Zidane.
Cristiano Ronaldo the ace player of the Portugal team, did well to win Portugal’s first ever major tournament at Euro 2016, earlier this year.
That’s not it, inspite of recovering from a throbbing knee inflammation he didn’t let his team down, as he paved the way to conquering the Champions League with the Spanish club Real Madrid.
Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane wants him to land the award for the world’s best player on January 9 next year.
“He clearly deserves the Ballon d’Or,” said Zidane ahead of Saturday’s trip to Alaves in La Liga.
“Not just at an individual level, but above all on a collective level…he knows everything he is achieving is thanks to his hard work and the work of those around him.”
His return hasn’t witnessed his full valour after the two-month injury layoff due the suffering of knee ligament damage in the Euro 2016 final.
“What Cristiano has done is raise the bar so high that every time he doesn’t score it is a problem,” backed Zidane, inspite of Ronaldo’s current struggles in front of goal.
Four out of nine goals have been scored by Ronaldo in his appearance for Madrid this season, by far not the best performance in all of the seven seasons with the European Championship.
“He is angry (about not scoring), but there is no bigger worry than that,” continued Zidane.
“Every time he doesn’t score there is a furore, but he has to live with these things. He is a phenom.”
Despite the fine form of Alvaro Morata, Ronaldo is expected to be partnered by Bale and Karim Benzema once more at the forward for Madrid.
In the run for the title, Ronaldo is expected to face competition from five-time winner Lionel Messi, Madrid teammate Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid and France forward Antoine Griezmann.