After winning three Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai on Friday, Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo declared he ‘no longer believed’ in two of football’s finest individual honours.
At the presentation, the 38-year-old earned the top Middle East Player honour, the Maradona honour for the top striker in 2023, and the Fans’ Favourite Player of the Year award, but 2023 Ballon d’Or winner and FIFA best men’s player Lionel Messi was overlooked.
Ronaldo, who completed 2023 as the world’s best striker for club and nation with 54 goals, defeating Harry Kane (52), Kylian Mbappe (52), and Erling Haaland (50), was sceptical of the honours, stating that more emphasis should be placed on statistics.
“We need to examine the whole season. It’s not that Messi, Haaland, or Mbappe didn’t earn the trophy; I just don’t believe in them anymore,” Ronaldo told Record. “It’s not because I won at Globe Soccer, but these are facts; the figures are there, and they don’t lie.
“They can’t take this trophy away from me because it’s a reality, I’m happier because the numbers are facts” .
“If you go back and see what happened at Man United and Portugal, people actually considered me lost…” .”But the truth is that I focused and had a great period at Al Nassr, that’s why I scored 54 goals.”
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner. Ronaldo argued on Friday that the much maligned Saudi Pro League was “more competitive” than French Ligue 1 as he bragged about his goal-scoring accomplishment.
“To be honest, I don’t believe the Saudi Championship is any worse than the French Championship. “I believe it is more competitive,” he said at the Globe Soccer Awards.
Ronaldo will have the opportunity to back up his remarks and prove his stats when his team faces Messi’s Inter Miami in a friendly on February 1 in Saudi Arabia.