Cristiano Ronaldo hopes picking up Best Player of the Year at the Globe Soccer Awards will lead to him winning the Ballon d’Or in January.
Ronaldo has enjoyed arguably the greatest year of his career, breaking the record for the number of goals in a single Champions League season as he led Real Madrid to their 10th European title, while maintaining his better than a goal-per-game ratio across five prolific years in Spain.
Ronaldo is hotly tipped to follow up his latest accolade by beating Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer to the Fifa Ballon d’Or to win it for the second year in a row, and third time overall.
The Portuguese attacker is hoping that his success at the awards ceremony in Dubai will be replicated in Zurich when the winner is announced on January 12.
He said: “I hope that it can be a good signal but I’m not worried about that. The people who vote know what they have to do.
“I just feel happy it’s one more trophy for my dedication and hard work. I want to say thank you to the people at Real Madrid, – the players, the coach – we had a fantastic season, we won four trophies and we are one of the best teams in the world.
“La Decima was a special moment as Real Madrid have looked forward to winning it.
“To win this award is one of the great pleasures, I am very proud.”
Former Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United star Ronaldo is adamant there is no added pressure on his shoulders despite his standing in the game.
“No, no pressure,” he added. “I don’t have pressure because things come naturally to me. I don’t have to show anything to anyone. I am happy, I do what I like, to play football, to score goals, to make assists and help show we [Real Madrid] are one of the best teams in the world.”
The Globe Soccer Awards, an event that has been streamed live on Goal, has a number of other categories promoting the very best football has had to offer across a hugely successful year.