World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 53

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okitwithbothhands.Rarely

vidualsodecisivelymarked

portantgameaswhenhehit

hat-trickagainstSwedeninthe

p play-off.ItwasbilledasZlatan

veus istianoandtherewasonlyone

winner, eventhoughIbrahimovicscored

twice.Onceagain,Ronaldohadtaken

thechancetomakeapoint.

Onemanwhosaidthathepreferred

LionelMessiwas theFIFApresidentSepp

Blatterin hisnowinfamousperformance

atOxfordUniversitywhen,likea drunk

grandadata wedding,hedida pretty

lamentable“impression”ofRonaldo,

lurching up likesomekindofrobotic

dinosaur. “Ronaldoislikeamilitary

commander,”hesaid.

Ronaldo’s responsewasfuriousat

first.Thenitwas funny.Hereleaseda

statementthatsaidBlatter’s display had

shownthe“respect” thatFIFAhadfor

himandsaidthathenow “understood”

certainthings- presumablythefactthat

Messihadwon fourFIFAWorldPlayer

awardsina row. Then he scored a hat-

trickinhisverynextgame:hecelebrated

thefirstby standingtoattentionand

saluting,commanderstyle.

InMadrid, wild andridiculous

conspiracytheoriesabounded,

andaccusationsofFIFAbiasand

manipulationflew. Butinthe wake of

theSwedendefeat,votingfortheFIFA

Ballond’Orwas reopened(with the

winnertobeannouncedinJanuary).

Somuchforbias.Suddenly,Ronaldo

appearedtobethefavourite again.

FranckRibery’s chancesseemed

diminished.“Idon’tneedbiggestures

toknow I’mthebest,” Ribery said

bitterlyaftertheRonaldomasks

werebroughtoutattheBernabeu.

Butwithoutthe goals,withoutthe

Portugueseplayer’sperformances,the

gesture wouldhavebeena hollow one.

Itwas notjustthatmind-blowing

displayagainst Swedenthatmakes

Ronaldoa strongcase.Thishas beenan

extraordinary yearforhim,somethingthat

isreflectedinthe 2 8-year-oldcoming

outontopinWorldSoccer’svote.

After 14 weeksoftheseason he was

topscorerinLaLiga;after five match

daysheistopscorerinthe Champions

Leaguetoo.Fora second timehe

finishedasthe ChampionsLeague’stop

scorerlastseason.Itwasthefirsttimein

fouryearsthatMessididn’tfinishontop

ofthe pile.Andhe wasthefirstplayer

inEurope’sbiggestleaguestoreach

50 goalsinthecalendaryearof 2013.

NoonehasscoredmoreChampions

Leaguegoalsin 2013 either.

UNSTOPPABLE

Ronaldoappearsunstoppable.Healso

appearsmorecontentedthanever. It

tooka whileforMadrid’s supportersto

warmtohim - afterallitisnotmuch

morethana yearsincehefailedto

celebrate a goalagainst Granadaand

afterwardsadmittedhe was“sad”.

Hisrelationshipwith thepresident

FlorentinoPerez wasstrainedand the

player warnedhimthathewas notsure

hewantedtocontinue.Now,he is going

tothe WorldCupandisnowthebest

paidplayeron theplanet,having

renewedhiscontractatMadrid.

A future withouthimseems

unthinkable:hecostsRealMadridover

€ 40 milliona yearinwages butnoone

considersit anythingotherthanmoney

wellspent.RonaldoisWorldSoccer’s

Player of theYear. RealMadrid’s fans

lovehimso muchthattheypulled

on 45 ,000masksto show it.

“Theunthinkable:couldRonaldobethebest

playerthathaseverplayedforRealMadrid?”

RIGHT:

FARRIGHT: