Cristiano Ronaldo still hitting the back of the net
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most well-known soccer players in the world, signed with Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. During the 2010-11 season, Ronaldo scored 40 goals for Madrid in La Liga, beating the all-time record of goals scored in one season in the Spanish League. In addition, he scored 6 goals in the Champion’s League and 7 in the Copa del Rey.
He is greatly renowned for scoring the only goal in the Copa del Rey final against arch rival Barcelona last season, giving Real Madrid the King’s Cup for the first time since 1993. Because of his high scoring record, he won the Golden Boot award. Ronaldo had a total of 10 assists last season in La Liga, but is showing improvement in that area in the 2011-12 season. Ronaldo took 102 goal shots last season, scoring on 40 of them. Although he is widely considered one of the best players in the world, Ronaldo is not without weaknesses. Last season his shots were often considered erratic and off target. He has been accused of taking dives in an attempt to gain fouls and therefore direct free kicks or penalty kicks.
So far this year, Real Madrid has 6 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw in La Liga. Within these games, Ronaldo has scored 10 goals (3 hat tricks), taken 57 shots, 23 goal … shots, and provided 5 assists. Real Madrid’s biggest rival, Barcelona, has defeated Real Madrid once in La Liga while tying once.
Real Madrid took the Copa del Rey final, and then was beaten by Barcelona once during the Champions League semi-finals and finally tied them in the next semi-finals game against them. Barcelona’s top player, Lionel Messi, is also Cristiano Ronaldo’s main competition for the world’s best soccer player. Many soccer fans are turning their attention to the rising star, who appears to be outshining Ronaldo. Even though Ronaldo was nominated for the UEFA Best Player in Europe for 2010/11, Messi won the award by a landslide. He received 39 votes, was followed by his teammate Xavi Hernandez with 11 votes, and Ronaldo came up third with only 3 votes. Messi scored 53 goals throughout the 2010/11 season, and is considered the greatest dribbler in the game. He has improved his strength over the last year, but his greatest weakness is in heading. Messi has 12 assists so far this season while Ronaldo has 5.
But, Ronaldo has a great advantage in the game as he can keep a great pace for long distances, while Messi generally shows short bursts of speed throughout the game. All in all, Ronaldo is still rated higher than Messi. But one must wonder for how long?