Seven times Cristiano Ronaldo has hit out at the Ballon d’Or: Factos, fictional, unfair…
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Ballon d’Or on five separate occasions, but in recent years, he’s taken a cynical stance on the award.
Back in a 2019 interview, Ronaldo told Piers Morgan that his dream was to retire with the most Ballon d’Or awards in the history of football.
However, since Lionel Messi has now won a record eight Ballon d’Ors, Ronaldo has devalued the award on multiple occasions over the past few years.
Fictional
With three of his fellow Portuguese teammates nominated for the Ballon d’Or this year, Ronaldo was recently asked about his opinion on the award.
During a quick soundbite of the interview, he told reporters: “It’s fictional to me.”
This certainly isn’t the first time that Ronaldo has devalued the Ballon d’Or.
No value
Prior to the Nations League final, Ronaldo was asked about his favourite to win the Ballon d’Or this year.
“For me, the one who should win the Ballon d’Or should be a player who has won the Champions League,” Ronaldo said.
Those comments caused quite a stir with Franck Ribery, who lost the Ballon d’Or to Ronaldo in 2013, despite winning the Champions League.
Ronaldo continued and then claimed that individual awards have ‘no value’, which is quite the contrast to what he was saying earlier in his career.
“I don’t believe much in individual awards because I know what goes on behind the scenes,” Ronaldo said.
“Individual awards have no value.”
Losing credibility
A few months after Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo couldn’t help himself and threw a jibe at the award, claiming that it had lost credibility.
“Ballon d’Or and The Best are losing credibility,” Ronaldo told Record in 2024.
“It’s not to say that Messi didn’t deserve it, or Haaland or even Mbappe… but the numbers are there and the numbers don’t deceive. You’ve to consider the entire season”.
“The numbers are facts.”
Unfair
Ronaldo also took issue with the award after Rodri won over Vinicius Junior last year.
“Vinicius Jr should have won the Ballon d’Or, in my opinion, it was clear,” Ronaldo said at the Globe Soccer Awards.
“It was unfair. This is why I love Globe Soccer Awards, they are honest.”
Rodri promptly snapped back at Ronaldo’s comments and pushed back about the award being unfair.
“He knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how the winner is chosen,” Rodri told AS.
“This year, the journalists who vote have decided that I should win it.
“Probably, these same journalists were the ones who at some point voted for him to win it, and I imagine that then he would have agreed.”
Factos
Ronaldo’s biggest Ballon d’Or crash-out came after Messi took home the award in 2021.
CR7 finished sixth in the voting that year and took to Instagram after the award ceremony to voice his displeasure.
Under a fan-made post criticising Messi and the season he had in 2020-21, Ronaldo commented, ‘Factos [Facts]’, adding a thumbs up and eyes emoji.
Numbers don’t lie
After losing the 2018 Ballon d’Or to his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, Ronaldo shared his disappointment with the press.
“Of course I’m disappointed, but life goes on and I will continue to work hard,” he told the Italian press.
“On the pitch, I’ve done everything to win the Ballon d’Or, numbers do not lie.
“Congratulations to Modric, who has earned the award, but next year we will meet again and I will do everything to win the prize again.”
Golden Shoe is better
After Messi swept the Ballon d’Or voting in 2015, Ronaldo seemed to change his stance on the award, claiming that the European Golden Shoe was the best award to win.
“The competition for the Golden Shoe also comes from other leagues,” Ronaldo told De Telegraaf in 2015.
“I really love this award. It is the best award out there for me.
“Others can pick you as the best player, but an attacker’s job is to make goals and I love that. I cannot deny that I love scoring goals.”
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