Cristiano Ronaldo believes he has done enough to win both the 2008 Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards after inspiring Manchester United to the Champions League and Premier League double last season.
The Portugal winger told La Gazzetta dello Sport: ”Sincerely, yes, I’m confident.
“If you assess what I did over the course of the season, I think I did more than everyone. What else should I have done to win the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA award.”
The 23-year-old, who scored 42 goals for United in their double-winning season, picked up the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award, as well as the England’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year to complete a clean sweep of the end of season accolades.
Ronaldo is on a 30-man shortlist for the 2008 Ballon d’Or, formerly known as the European Footballer of the Year award, and faces competition from the likes of Barcelona’s Argentine midfielder Lionel Messi and last year’s winner, Milan’s Kaka.
The prize will be awarded on Dec. 2 from a poll of 96 journalists from all over the world organised by France Football magazine.
Ronaldo also admitted he has his eyes on more silverware, saying: ”I want a second Champions League, Manchester United have everything to focus on this. But I am wary of Inter and Juventus.”
Villarreal winger Robert Pires will come up against the winger when the spanish side meet United in the Champions League and was full of praise for the Portuguese wingr.
“He was amazing last season – no-one matched his level – so he should be voted Ballon d’Or,” said Pires.
“He is an amazing individual talent, but not a selfish one, as what he does is massive for his team.”
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo
Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid), Argentina
Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Russia
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany
Karim Benzema (Lyon), France
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Italy
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast
Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona), Cameroon
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain
Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Spain
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), England
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter), Sweden
Kaka (Milan), Brazil
Frank Lampard (Chelsea), England
Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Argentina
Pepe (Real Madrid), Portugal
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), France
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England
Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Spain
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Spain
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Netherlands
Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg/Real Madrid), Netherlands
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Netherlands
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Serbia
David Villa (Valencia), Spain
Xavi (Barcelona), Spain
Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Russia
*The November issue of World Soccer carries an exclusive interview with Cristiano Ronaldo.
