Tag Archives: Cristiano Ronaldo

Football Factz

Harry Kane the only British name on 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist

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Tottenham Hotspur and England striker Harry Kane is the only British player to make the 30-man shortlist for the prestigious Ballon d’Or – although plenty of other Premier League players have made the cut.

Kane has been in superb form in 2017, scoring 43 goals in 37 games for club and country, and has established himself as England’s number one striker.

But he is the only British name there. Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale – a fixture on the list in recent years – misses out after a season plagued by injury. Jamie Vardy, who made last year’s list, isn’t included after a mediocre year for Leicester City.

Perhaps one English player to be disappointed to miss out is Kane’s team-mate Dele Alli, who has had a stellar 12 months that have seen him establish himself as a star in the Premier League and an automatic pick for England.

But the Premier League is well-represented in the shortlist, with 6 players included. They are: Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane from Liverpool, Chelsea midfielders Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante, Manchester United stopper David de Gea and Manchester City’s midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.

The favourites for the award are, as usual, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have shared the past 9 awards between them – Messi leads 5-4 – with Paris St-Germain pair Neymar and Kylian Mbappe also likely to be in contention.

The other nominees are: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Edinson Cavani (Paris St-Germain), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Edin Dzeko (Roma), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Isco (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) and Luis Suarez (Barcelona).

Football Factz

Cristiano Ronaldo sells one of Ballon d’Ors and makes £500,000 for charity

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has auctioned a replica of one of his Ballon d’Or trophies – and raised £530,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation charity.

Ronaldo donated his 2013 replica to the charity auction held in London last weekend, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.

The trophy was bought by billionaire Idan Ofer – Israel’s richest person – and all of the money raised will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with terminal or life-threatening medical conditions.

Ronaldo has a long history of giving to charity, and has donated to Save the Children, Unicef and World Vision over the years. In 2015, he was named the world’s most charitable sportsman.

Football Factz

Cristiano Ronaldo hits back at critics after scoring brace against Borussia Dortmund

While he may be one of the best players in the world, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo still seems to have a queue of people lining up to criticize him – but now he’s hit back at them.

Ronaldo, who scored twice in Real’s 3-1 Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, has been irked by comments he’s received recently after failing to score in a couple of La Liga matches since his return from injury.

“I am surprised by what the public thinks of me, my numbers speak for themselves, I am an exemplary professional and always have a clear mind. The criticism is getting worse. It seems that I have to keep showing exactly who I am in every match.”

The criticism does seem unmerited, given that he has scored 411 goals in 400 appearances for Madrid in all competitions. That isn’t too shabby a record.

But despite this, Ronaldo added that he is happy and doing what he enjoys. “People talk about me every day around the world [but] I live for football and my family, not for the media.”

Football Factz

Lionel Messi scores 300th goal at Camp Nou

Another day, another goalscoring feat by Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi: this time, he has scored his 300th goal at the Camp Nou.

His 300th goal – which also completed his hat-trick – was scored against Eibar in a La Liga match last night (September 19). In all, Messi bagged 4 goals on the night as Barca ran riot, winning 6-1 against their mid-table counterparts.

Messi has now scored 301 goals at the Camp Nou, in 13 years – which is an average of more than 23 strikes per season. Most strikers (except for Christiano Ronaldo, obviously) would be happy to get 23 in just one season, home or away. But then Messi has never been ordinary.

The Argentinian has also scored 9 goals in his last 4 La Liga matches, which has helped Barca maintain their perfect start to the season – 15 points from 5 games with 17 goals scored. They are currently 5 points clear in the early table, but have played a game more than several of their rivals.

Football Factz

Cristiano Ronaldo confirms he is the father of twins

Cristiano Ronaldo has confirmed that he is the father of twins. He made the announcement after Portugal’s semi-final defeat in the Confederations Cup.

Portuguese media had reported that the twins – a boy and a girl – had been born to a surrogate mother in the US earlier in the month. But up until now, Ronaldo hadn’t personally confirmed the story.
But the Real Madrid star went onto Facebook after the match to say: “I’m very happy, finally, to be with my children for the first time.”

Little has been confirmed about the twins. Reports in Portuguese media said they had been born on June 8, and that Ronaldo’s mother, Dolores Aveiro, had flown out to the US soon after.
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) confirmed that Ronaldo had told them before the start of the Confederations Cup that he had become a father again, but decided to play at the tournament, a decision the FPF said was a “gesture that we must highlight and praise”.

Ronaldo already has a son, Cristiano Ronaldo Junior, who was born in 2010.

Following the team’s defeat, Ronaldo has now left the Portugal camp, and will not take part in the third-place play-off game on Sunday.