Sunday Independent
10 SPORT SOCCER / CYCLING Sunday Independent 22 March 2015 Ronaldo out to swing Determined to the balance back his way See-sawing battle for supremacy with Messi be his own man comes to a head in Clasico, says Sid Lowe CRISTIANO RONALDO laid down the Ballon d’Or on the plinth in front of him and began his acceptance speech, Sepp in the peloton Blatter to the left of him, Thierry Henry to the right. As he drew to a close, he thanked everyone and then paused. He leant in towards the microphone, clenched his fists and boomed out a long, deep “Si”. This was Ronaldo’s third Bal- lon d’Or but he was determined and off the bike it would not be his last. Only one player has won more and he was sitting in the front row, a runner-up: Lionel Messi. Before the presentation, the two footballers had met briefly. Ronaldo called Messi over to meet his son, telling the Argentinian that Ronaldo junior watched him on Nicolas Roche, his sister television, talked about him. He Christel and their mother also admitted that Messi’s success Lydia: ‘I always felt I was in helped to drive him. “I’m sure the the middle; when I was in competition between us motivates Ireland I was ‘the foreigner’, him too. It’s good for me, good for and when I was in France I him and good for other players who PAUL KIMMAGE was ‘the foreigner’, and I’m want to grow,” he said. meets attached to both sides, but For four years, Ronaldo had there’s a little thing that finished second to Messi but he had NICOLAS ROCHE makes me feel that bit more not given up.
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