CR7s 2013 STATS IN NUMBERS ANALYSIS By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer You are talking to God! Zlatan Ibrahimovic told a reporter ahead of Swedens World Cup play-off return against Portugal on Wednesday. But after his brazen boast, Ibra was left in the shadows as Cristiano Ronaldos Solna spectacular sent the Swedes packing - and the Portuguese to Brazil 2014. So if Ibra is God, how would we describe Ronaldo right now? Zlatans two goals gave Sweden high hopes of qualification as the Scandinavians took a 2-1 lead and levelled the aggregate score at 2-2. But Ronaldo, who had hit the winner in Lisbon and opened the scoring in the return, added two more stunning strikes to ensure Portugals presence in Brazil next summer. In doing so, the 28-year-old continued what has been the finest year yet of his professional career. And as Fifa decided to extend voting for the Ballon dOr (originally closed on November 15) to the end of the month, the Portuguese is now the firm favourite to claim the prestigious prize for a second time and bring to an end Lionel Messis monopoly of the individual honour. The Argentine has won the award for each of the last four years and is in the running for the prize again this time, but his injury-interrupted 2013 means he is not the strong favourite he has been in previous editions. Bayern Munichs Franck Ribery is also among the contenders after winning it all with the Bavarians last season, but, in terms of individual brilliance, 2013 has been all about Cristiano. Ronaldos staggering statistics over the last 11 months may not have included a team trophy, but the Portuguese has been the outstanding individual player of this calendar year. So, with that in mind, Goal takes a look at the Real Madrid forwards incredible numbers in 2013. 66 - Ronaldo has hit 66 goals so far for club and country this year, beating his previous record of 63, in 2012. And he still has six more games to add to that tally (Madrid have eight matches left in 2013 but Cristiano is suspended for the two Copa del Rey clashes against Olimpic de Xativa). The 66 goals have come in just 55 appearances for Madrid and Portugal. Last years 63 came in 71 appearances. 64 - By comparison, Ronaldos rivals for the next Ballon dOr crown, Messi and Ribery, have scored a combined 64 goals in 2013. 56 - The bulk of Cristianos goals in 2013 have come with Madrid. The Portuguese has netted 56 times in 46 official games for his club this year. 47 - The Madeira-born forwards triple against Sweden saw him reach 47 international goals and equal the Portuguese record held by former Paris Saint-Germain striker Pauleta. One more goal will see Ronaldo, who has 109 Seleccao caps to his name, claim the record outright. Better than God | Ronaldo won the duel with Ibrahimovic on Tuesday 36 - Ronaldo has scored 36 of his 66 goals in La Liga this year - in just 30 games. 32 - For club and country in 2013-14, Cristiano has 32 in 22 games. At the beginning of last season, he hit 21 in the same amount of matches. 30 - In April, he became the first player in Madrids history to score more than 30 goals for three straight seasons. And he is well on target to do so again this term. 24 - The Portuguese has already scored 24 goals for Madrid this season (from just 17 games) - his best-ever start to a season in Spain. And that with a new coach and system to get used to, plus the departure of Mesut Ozil (the German had set up more goals for Cristiano than anyone else - 27 - in the previous three campaigns). 19 - His double at Elche, which included a controversial penalty in added time, means the former Manchester United man has now netted against every other team in La Liga. In 2011-12, he became the first player to do so in a single season, but he had never played previously against Elche, who were promoted in the summer. 16 - The Portuguese has added maturity to his unquestionable individual brilliance and has 16 assists in 2013, meaning he has been involved in an amazing 82 goals overall this year. He is also La Ligas top scorer so far this season with 16 goals and, with Messi on eight and recovering from injury, he is well on course for a second Pichichi prize. 14 - Cristianos strike at Juventus earlier this month was his 14th Champions League goal of 2013, which saw him beat Messis mark of 13 from last year. 10 - Ronaldo has 10 goals in nine matches for Portugal in 2013 - the first time he has managed double figures for his country in a calendar year. His previous best was seven in nine games, in 2011. 8 - The 28-year-old is the current top scorer in this seasons Champions League, with eight goals from his four games. He needs just one more in the final two group games to break a record he now shares with Hernan Crespo, Filippo Inzaghi and Ruud van Nistelrooy. 6 - Ronaldo has hit six hat-tricks for Madrid in 2013. In total, he has now netted 23 triples for the Spanish side. He only scored one hat-trick at Manchester United, despite spending six seasons at Old Trafford and racking up 118 goals for the team managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. 5 - Ronaldo recently moved up to fifth in the list of all-time Madrid scorers, overtaking Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez, and now has 225 goals for Los Blancos, in just 216 matches. At his current strike-rate, the Portuguese will surpass Madrids highest scorer, Raul (323 in 741 games) in 2015. 2 - Up until this year, Cristiano had never netted a hat-trick for Portugal. He now has two: against Northern Ireland in Belfast during World Cup qualifying; and on Tuesday, as he hit three past Sweden in the teams second leg play-off for a place at Brazil 2014. 0 - Ronaldo will end 2013 without a trophy after Madrid won only the Spanish Supercopa in Jose Mourinhos final season at the Santiago Bernabeu. That title, of course, came back in August last year. Whether that makes any difference in the Ballon dOr voting remains to be seen, but trophies or no trophies, Cristiano has been 2013s finest footballer. GOAL.COM
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 11:41:25 +0000
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