Cristiano Ronaldo may not win a Ballon d’Or this year, but the Portuguese was never truly forgotten as he bagged Player of the Year in Dubai Globe Soccer Award 2019.
It was his sixth time out of nine years of the award existence and his fourth time in a row, completely ousted his rivals Lionel Messi.
The award came after his move to Juventus the previous summer, as he scored 21 goals in Serie A helping the Old Lady to win an eighth successive Scudetto.
He continued his form in the international level as Portugal went on to win the inaugural UEFA Nations League title, while also scoring his 99th international goals, thus qualifying for the Euro 2020.
Speaking at the award ceremony held in Dubai, Ronaldo has been thankful towards people who have been supporting him all his life.
“I have to thank my family, my girlfriend, my boy there, Cristiano, my three kids who are waiting for me in the hotel, my friends, my teammates of Juventus and the national team, my agent, all the people here tonight who support this gala,” Ronaldo said to The National.
“I have to say thank you to the Arabic community, which is always great with me. I have to thank Dubai as well – it’s a marvellous place to be, I’m coming every year and I love this place.
Honored to received one more time Globe Soccer Award! A very emotional moment for me to share this award with my family ❤️🙏Grateful for all the hospitality, see you soon Dubai!😉 pic.twitter.com/NudtLSXa5F
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) December 29, 2019
“And finally to thank [everyone] who voted for me. It’s a great honour to be here and receive this amazing award. I hope to be here next year to receive this award, of course. Thanks to everyone, and a happy New Year.”
Ronaldo’s counterpart in Juve, Miralem Pjanic won Player Career Award while Ronaldo’s country mates Joao Felix won Best Revelation Player award.
Liverpool took home the most award after Jurgen Klopp was named Best Coach, Alisson Becker won Best Goalkeeper while the Liverpool Football Club itself won Best Club in 2019.
List of award winners
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women’s Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs