Cristiano Ronaldo has had a magnificent year, where he won the Champions League and Euro 2016. The Portuguese talisman believes he has done everything in his power and has set his sights on winning it a historic fourth time.
It has been an extremely special 12 months for him with both club and country and is tipped to be one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or.
Also Read: Zinedine Zidane believes Cristiano Ronaldo 'ended the debate' on Ballon d'Or after hat-trick
Speaking to the press after scoring an extremely important hat-trick against fierce rivals Atletico Madrid at Vicente Calderon, he claimed that he couldn’t do anything more to show the world why he really deserved the award. A statement backed by Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane himself.
"I've done everything for this season," Ronaldo told Telefoot.
"We won the Champions League, I won the Euros with Portugal. The vote doesn't depend on me and I don't want to be obsessed with it. But if you ask me if I want to win the Ballon d'Or, I'd say yes. This year has been amazing for me, with all the trophies. It's my best season, no doubt about that."
His 16 goals in 12 games for Real Madrid, ensured that Real Madrid won a record 11th European cup in their illustrious footballing history, under Zinedine Zidane. He then went on to captain his country in the European Championships, where he scored three important goals to help Portugal win the cup. He was substituted in the final due to a heart-breaking injury, but Portugal went to win it without the services of their star player.
Also Read: Video: Cristiano Ronaldo's impassioned speech minutes after winning Euro 2016
The winner of the prize will now be decided by a panel of journalists voting on their preferences and the results will be announced on the 13th of December. It will no longer include votes of national team captains and coaches. This comes after a split between France Football and FIFA themselves.
The magazine also announced that the shortlist for the award will increase from 23 to 30. The three finalists will also not be announced before presenting the final award.
The other main contenders for this year’s Ballon d’Or are rumoured to be Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann – all plying their trade in La Liga.
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