Cristiano Ronaldo was outstanding last season and bizarre are those who deny this fact. The Portuguese Superstar raised the game of football to another level, proving wrong this frequent answer which use to come out of the mouths of strikers: ‘A striker cannot score in every game and is not a scoring machine’, like Thierry Henry or even Didier Drogba believed.

Ronaldo surely did not score in every game he played, but in the Premier League – much regarded as the toughest league in the world – he hit 31 goals in 34 appearances. According to statistics, Cristiano Ronaldo started 31 times and finished the season with 31 goals; which gives an average of one goal per game as a starter.

Consequently, in a way or another, Ronaldo proved to the world that it is possible to bag an outrageous number of goals in modern-day soccer, without even being a striker.

Can anyone beat Ronaldo to this achievement? Surely no, and it is certainly not Messi’s choice for the Ballon d’Or Award, Sergio Aguerro, who can stand as a challenger.

The Barcelona playmaker chose his club mate rival and compatriot Aguerro as the right person to lift the prestigious France Football Magazine Award later in December.

“Who would I give the award to? I would give it to Aguerro, but I think Torres and Xavi deserve it too.” Messi told La Gazetta Dello Sport.

Quite a strange opinion there from Messi, which may raise some debates over who really deserves the accolade as well as over what is Messi’s real personality…

Either he is more the patriotic young man that every Argentine would be proud of, either he is the kind of insincere person that some will not appreciate as bad memories from an Atlético Madrid supporter point of view recall humiliating defeats in the hands of Barcelona, like last year’s 3 – 0 lost or last time’s 6 – 1 rout.

In a more direct way, is Messi not revealing the jealousy he may have against Ronaldo, as he even dared to ignore more or less Ronaldo’s marvellous form last season?

Either way, there are very few chances for Aguerro to be short-listed among the final three in contention for the Ballon d’Or. Messi himself – who avowed he would give anything for the Ballon d’Or – is a strong favourite to win the price. He is probably the strongest contender to compete against the reigning European and FIFPro Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo.

As for the Portuguese Star winger, it is self-belief and confidence – two key mental powers – that help him believe there is no serious challenger but himself, for the remaining awards.

Written by: Angela Asante