Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney has backed his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo to claim this year’s FIFABallon d’Or award, insisting he has overtaken Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo, who has 17 goals from nine league games this season, also broke the seasonal Champions League goalscoring record to fire Real Madrid to that long-awaited 10th title last campaign.
Asked by MUTV whether Ronaldo would retain his award, Rooney commented: “I think so. He’s had an incredible two or three years, and I think he has certainly overtaken Lionel Messi now as the best player in the world. I’m sure it’ll be difficult to give it to anyone else.
Rooney and Ronaldo famously clashed at the 2006 World Cup, when the Portuguese was accused of helping get his club colleague sent off for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.
However, that incident aside, the pair generally have a strong relationship and have been highly complimentary of each other in previous interviews.
Ronaldo’s unsurprising nomination for the 2014 Ballon d’Or award was announced last week, with the prize once more anticipated to be heading in the direction of either him or Messi.
Indeed, such is the pair’s duopoly that the last winner not called either Messi or Ronaldo came back in 2007, when Kaka won after firing AC Milan to European glory.
While Ronaldo may have failed to hit top form at the World Cup andMessi struggled to perform to his best in the 2013-14 season, it is not a situation that is expected to change. Having wrested the award away from his rival last year, Ronaldo is heavily backed to retain his crown, as Oddschecker shows.
