There were no tears of pride like there had been when he won the ‘Ballon D’ Or’ earlier this year, but it was still an extremely proud Cristiano Ronaldo who went up on stage in Monaco yesterday to be crowned the winner of UEFA’s ‘Best Player in Europe’ award.
It was the first time Portugal and Real Madrid’s superstar footballer won the prestigious award, beating Bayern Munich pair Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben to the number one spot.
“I’m really happy so I must say thanks to my teammates because without the team, individual awards would not be possible,” Ronaldo said upon receiving the award.
“I would like to also thank my family, my coaches and the journalists who voted for me. I’m really happy, I’ve never won this award so I’m going to get my brother to place this in my museum,” he added with a smile.
Later, the lethal striker admitted that it will be “very hard” to repeat last year’s success but as he is a person who “likes challenges”, he guaranteed he would try to be “the best” and help Real Madrid win again.
Not only did Ronaldo win the UEFA Champions League, Spanish Copa del Rey and UEFA Super Cup with Real Madrid last year, he was also the top scorer of La Liga, with 31 goals, and UEFA Champions League, with a record 17 goals.
He also helped Portugal’s national team make it to the World Cup in Brazil, scoring an impressive hat trick against Sweden in the decisive playoffs.
