Today, many people believe that Cristiano Ronaldo (Ronaldo) is the best football player of our time. And in recent years, he often proves this. For example, he led Real Madrid to two consecutive Champions League victories, as well as the Portuguese national team to their first ever European Championship victory. However, it’s worth paying attention not only to team achievements, because Ronaldo has much more, if you look at personal achievements. In particular, we are talking about such an award .. as the Golden Ball, which is awarded every year to the best football player on the planet. Unfortunately, Cristiano is not the holder of a record number of these trophies.
But how many Golden Balls does Ronaldo have? This is what will be discussed in this article. You will learn not only how many of these trophies a given football player has, but also about when and how he received them, as well as in what cases he did not have enough to become the best. Well, it's time to find out how many Golden Balls Ronaldo has.
What kind of footballer is this?
Of course, everyone wants to find out how many Golden Balls Ronaldo has as soon as possible. However, before that, it is worthwhile to figure out what kind of footballer he is. He was born in Portugal in 1985 and first appeared in the Lisbon Sporting, whose young star he became in the 2002/03 season. Naturally, he immediately attracted the attention of the leading clubs in Europe, and in 2003 he moved to the English Manchester United, with whom he won three English championships, one FA Cup and one Champions League. However, this was not the limit of possibilities, and Cristiano realized that he had outgrown the current team. Therefore, in 2009, he accepted the offer from Real Madrid, the star of which he eventually became. With him, the club has so far won two Spanish championships, two Spanish Cups, as well as three Champions League, which is simply an amazing result.
Of course, Ronaldo is already 32 years old, so we can safely say that his career is gradually coming to an end. But so far, he is at the peak of his form and can win more than one award. Returning to the main topic of the article, it's time to take a look at how many Golden Balls Ronaldo already has.
First trophy
If you want to know how many Golden Balls Ronaldo has for 2017, then you should take a look at the history of how he received these trophies. Firstly, it should be noted that he joined the struggle for the title of the best football player in the world at the same time as his main rival, Lionel Messi. In 2007, they both fell into the top three candidates for the Golden Ball, but lost to Brazilian talent Kaka. Cristiano then took second place, and Messi third. But already in 2008, the Portuguese was able to prove what he is capable of by winning the trophy in the fight against the same Messi, as well as with the Spanish striker Fernando Torres. So if you think how many Golden Goals Cristiano Ronaldo has, you can write him the first point. However, it, of course, was not the last.
Second trophy
It is immediately worth noting that after the 2008 trophy, Ronaldo had a very long break. In 2009, he took second place, losing to his main opponent, but at the same time overtaking Xavi from Barcelona, who could not compete seriously with his teammate. In 2010, Ronaldo did not get into the top three candidates, which consisted entirely of Barcelona players, and in the next two years he was in second place, behind Lionel Messi. In 2012, he did not even appear at the trophy ceremony, at which the winner was determined, thereby expressing protest against the fact that the Golden Ball turned into a reward prepared exclusively for Messi. From this a real scandal flared up, which led to the fact that in 2013 Cristiano still got his Golden Ball.
But here it was not without a problem. Unfortunately, the outburst of rage Ronaldo had just on the long-awaited victory of the “Bavaria” in the Champions League, and Frank Ribery from the Munich club was, without the slightest doubt, the best football player in the world at that time. But he ended up in third place, the trophy was given to Ronaldo, who did nothing to help his team and could not even reach the final, and the second place was generally a laughing stock, since Messi was simply in full-time confrontation between Bavaria and Barcelona a shadow of himself. As a result, this moment became a turning point, after which they simply ceased to believe in the justice of this award. But the fact remains that Ronaldo received his second “Golden Ball” in 2013.
Third trophy
Ronaldo did not have to wait for the third trophy for as long as the second, since he won it the very next year. This time he bypassed by a huge margin both Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer.
Fourth trophy
Unfortunately, Ronaldo was not able to demonstrate a long series of victories, because in 2015 he was again in second place, significantly ahead of Neymar, who took third place, but lost to his main opponent Lionel Messi. And if in 2014 Ronaldo was as close as possible to Messi in the number of trophies, then in 2015 the gap increased again. But not for long, because in 2016 Cristiano became the best again, receiving twice as many votes as Messi.
So how many Golden Goals does Cristiano Ronaldo have? For 2017, he has 4 trophies, and he takes second place in this indicator, second only to Lionel Messi.