Cristiano Ronaldo Named 'Player of the Century' Ahead Of Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named 'Player of the Century' at the Globe Soccer Awards ahead of longtime rival Lionel Messi.

The Portuguese superstar received his award in Dubai on Sunday afternoon after being recognised as the best between 2001 and 2020.

It's yet another individual award for the 35-year-old, who has won five Ballon d'Ors in his illustrious career.

Few can hold a candle to his achievements and 'CR7' looked delighted when accepting his award in front of spectators.

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Ronaldo made his name at Manchester United between 2003 and 2009 and he emerged as one of the world's top talents.

He sealed a then-world record £80 million transfer to Real Madrid and took his game to the next level.

Arguably Madrid's greatest ever player, Ronaldo became a deadly finisher and took the club to an unprecedented four Champions League titles in five years.

Ronaldo departed for Juventus in 2018 and he is a key player for the Italian giants.

One of the defining aspects of his career is the rivalry with Argentine maestro Messi.

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Both have pushed one another to the best of their abilities and will go down as two of the greatest ever.

Messi spoke warmly about the player who is often seen as his eternal counterpart earlier this year.

"The one with Cristiano Ronaldo was and is a special duel, which will remain forever," he said, reflecting on their time together in La Liga. "It lasted many years and it is not easy to maintain certain levels for a long time.

"Our teams were also very demanding: Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two strongest clubs in the world. Competing as equals for so many years is something that will remain forever.

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"The duel between me and Cristiano Ronaldo was very good on a personal level and I think people enjoyed it."

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski managed to beat both men to the Player of the Year award.

But the ultimate honour belongs to Ronaldo.

Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to be named 'Player of the Century'?

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Football News, Football, Manchester United, Man U, Lionel Messi, Man utd, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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