As the 2023-2024 season enters its final stage, candidates for the 2024 Golden Ball title have also appeared. However, the rankings assessing the chances of winning published up to this point almost all lack the name Cristiano Ronaldo.
For example, on Goal’s list, Ronaldo is not in the Top 20. In fact, CR7 is the player with the most goals in the world this season with 48 goals and 13 assists after 49 matches for Al Nassr. However, this is still not enough. Planet Football newspaper even commented: “Ronaldo can score a hundred goals in the Saudi Pro League (Saudi Arabia’s national championship) but is still not a candidate for the Golden Ball title”, this news site said.
Below are the reasons why Ronaldo’s goals at Al Nassr do not have much meaning in the race to win the Golden Ball.
Football in Saudi Arabia is not highly appreciated
According to Opta data released in April, the Saudi Pro League is only ranked 26th in the list of the best national leagues, lower than K.League, J.League and far behind Messi’s MLS (13th). The Saudi Pro League is evaluated unevenly, with great polarization between groups.
The proof of this is that in the 2023-2024 season, Al Hilal is undefeated with a record of 30 wins and 3 draws. Matches with large gaps also often appear. Al Hilal once defeated Al Hazm with a score of 9-0. Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s Al Nassr also beat Abha 8-0 earlier this year.
Because the quality of tournaments in Saudi Arabia is underrated, the goals scored here do not help Ronaldo much in the race with candidates from Europe.
White season of titles
In August 2023, Ronaldo started like a dream with the Arab club championship for Al Nassr. However, the whole team cannot use this result as a stepping stone for the whole season.
The Asian Cup, a tournament that gathers the best clubs on the continent, is the biggest playground Ronaldo will attend this year in the Al Nassr shirt. However, the whole team stopped in the quarterfinals against Al Ain. Ronaldo himself only scored one goal from the penalty spot in two matches against Al Ain.
And in the national championship, Ronaldo’s Al Nassr could not make a difference in an impressive season when Al Hilal played. Neymar’s team won the championship 3 rounds early. Not only that, this team also won the Saudi Super Cup after overcoming Al Nassr.
Lackluster in “difficult” matches
In 3 official matches against direct opponents this season, Ronaldo was unable to score and the Portuguese superstar Al Nassr did not win any match (lost 2, drew 1). Losing in direct confrontations is the reason why Al Nassr missed the opportunity to win titles.
Even in the Super Cup final in April, Ronaldo received a red card. In the Asian Cup, Ronaldo’s role is not really outstanding. Al Nassr also stopped early in the quarterfinals.
What are the chances for Ronaldo to win the 2024 Golden Ball?
Luckily for Ronaldo, this year the important Euro tournament will take place. If he can shine brightly to lead his team to the championship, Ronaldo can expect to be among the top candidates.
The Portuguese team is also highly appreciated in this year’s tournament as they own a squad with a combination of experience and youth. In the Euro qualifiers, the team also won all 10 matches, conceding only 2 goals.
Planet Football also said that if he can help Portugal win the throne in Germany this summer, Ronaldo can absolutely think about the 6th Golden Ball. Of course, this is not easy. At the age of 39, Ronaldo will likely have difficulty facing the star-studded defenses of European football.
