FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014, Cristiano Ronaldo: Say thank you... Lionel Messi!

When Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or award in 2008, he smiled happily like a landlord with a bumper cabbage crop.

It took five years for his second win, in 2013, and Ronaldo stopped smiling. He cried.

He puffed out his chest and said “I was number 1, number 2 and number 3” on his first win. And on his second win, he admitted “it was hard to win this award.”

From 2008 to 2013, in 5 years, Ronaldo had enough experience to change his attitude towards winning and his attitude towards losing. He no longer cried like a child when his team lost and no longer smiled smugly after hard-won victories.

In between those five years there were four awards gala. Ronaldo finished second three times and once fell as low as sixth. The winner was always the same person, Lionel Messi.

On January 12, 2015, he won the Ballon d’Or for the third time, ahead of Manuel Neuer and Lionel Messi. He did not smile broadly, nor did he burst into tears. He simply breathed a sigh of relief, twice, and said his thanks, starting with his loved ones (“I dedicate this victory to my son, my family, my mother, and my father who watches over me from Heaven”).

Ronaldo and his family attended the FIFA Ballon d'Or award gala

So Ronaldo is above Messi. Messi, that will probably be the name that Ronaldo remembers the most in his football career. Not only is he a rival on the field and in the competition for titles, Messi is also a role model. Because every time Ronaldo sets a milestone or a record, people have to ask whether Messi has reached that milestone or not. And after each super goal Ronaldo scores, there is an opinion that it is not as beautiful as another super goal Messi has scored.

What does Ronaldo think about Messi? Jealous? Envious? Or greedy?...

Above all, Ronaldo needs to be grateful to Messi. Really grateful. Because even in 2008, when Ronaldo won the Premier League - Champions League double, there were opinions that Messi deserved more even though Barcelona did not win any titles. The next 4 years were a long race in which Ronaldo was mostly at a disadvantage. The arrogant idea of ​​"I am number 1, number 2 and number 3" died and the hard work increased.

Messi and Ronaldo are excellent in different ways. Messi plays with instinct, Ronaldo plays with skill. Messi is blessed with an instinct for playing football that no other player of his generation has. The Argentines believe that Diego Maradona was the Messiah sent to save them, and they think the same about Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo had a successful year in 2014.

When Ronaldo first started his career, he also played football with instinct, but that instinct was not strong enough to defeat all opponents. He switched to practicing football skills to perfect them all. Observing the way Ronaldo moved without the ball, kept the ball, dribbled, shot, headed..., one felt that they could all be included in football textbooks. But practicing all the skills to the point of having no weaknesses is only for him.

Ronaldo vs Messi is like a normal person vs a superman. Ronaldo is well aware of his limitations but he believes that a normal person can still win with persistent effort and iron will. Ronaldo and Real Madrid defeated Messi and Barcelona in many matches in the year he won the Ballon d'Or. In 2013, and in 2014 too.

Six years of pursuing individual and collective titles have given Ronaldo success and humility. Ronaldo needs to be grateful to Messi, although he rarely admits it, just as he has never acknowledged his rival's talent by including Messi's name in the Ballon d'Or ballot (as Messi did not vote for Ronaldo).

According to TTVH