Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo defeated his greatest rival Lionel Messi to win the player of the century award at the Globe Soccer Award held in Dubai on Sunday (December 26). The 35-year-old Ronaldo won league titles in England, Spain and Italy where he’s currently playing for Juventus. Ronaldo has won the Champions League title five times.
“It’s a pleasure to win titles,” Ronaldo said after accepting the award. “It’s not easy to be top of the game for so many years. I am really proud, but without a team, great coaches and clubs it is not possible.” His latest triumph comes off the back off his Golden Foot award from a few weeks ago. The gong is handed out to players aged 28 or above and can only be won by a recipient once in their career. The forward also became the first Serie A player to score at least 32 league goals in a calendar year since Omar Sivori in 1961.
According to reports, Ronaldo – who is a massive superstar in the world of football – also won the ‘Player of the Year’. Realising it would be ‘unfair’, the 35-year old instead of accepting the coveted honour, gave the award to Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski – who has had a phenomenal year for his club.
