Ballon d'Or..

Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United has been crowned as Ballon d'Or winner for the year 2008. As a MU fan, I feel so happy for him. He polled an impressive 446 points from a maximum 480, finishing comfortably ahead of second-placed Messi (281) and third-placed Torres (179). Ronaldo becomes the third Portuguese player to lift the famous trophy, and fourth MU player since Dennis Law did it in 1964.

I can't deny that Ronaldo is really a good player. It was a colorful season when MU ended up with glorious wins over Premier League Cup as well as European Champions League last season with Ronaldo scoring 42 goals for MU in all tournaments. However, still I do not favour him that much. I've been watching MU games since 1990, the early days of the ruling keeper Schmeichel. I've seen lots more impressive players than him. Especially when we're talking about No.7 jersey. As we've already known, the previous owners of that number were Cantona and Beckham. If I were to rank those 3 No.7 players, I would place Cantona at the top, followed by Beckham..and then only Ronaldo.

I saw MU won few games at the absence of Ronaldo. But I found it so hard for MU to win a game when either Beckham or Cantona were not in the pitch. MU failed to win EPL since Beckham left to Real Madrid. It was Arsenal that took the trophy in the next season, before Chelsea took it twice in consecutive seasons after that. By that time, Ronaldo has already been playing for MU. I would consider Micheal Carrick as the saviour that brought the cup back to Old Trafford when he joined the Red Devils in 2006. He's been working very well in midfield along with Scholes, and that was the moment we knew that the team needs a feeder who's accurate..so that the attacking line can produce goals. It was then when Vidic and Evra joined United's line to strengthen the defense, became the complimentary factors that led the team to winning EPL and UCL cup last season.

To that, I don't know if this 'handsome' boy really deserved this Ballon d'Or.. Who am I to judge him, especially when professional football organizations have already recognized him. He's a very good player, I have to agree with that. But may be I have a smaller taste compared to those who have voted him for the trophy. My personal opinion has it that, there has been a better player in MU. But if the judgements came from the season 2007/2008.. I strongly feel that those journalists were left with not much choices...