Monday April 23, 2007 08:47
Ronaldo Wins Both PFA Awards
Posted by The Soccer Blogger as Soccer Training & Skills
Amazing, I actually predicted something correctly!
Well OK, it wasn’t the hardest outcome to predict as last night Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo was named both the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers’ Association.
What I did find a little surprising was that this is the first time since 1977 that the same player has won both awards in the same season. There have been some candidates over the last 30 years who I would have thought would have been in with a big shout to win both. However the last player to do it was Andy Gray, now a Sky Sports pundit.
It’s a bit of a turnaround for Ronaldo who, at the beginning of this season, was booed wherever he went for his part in the sending off of his club team-mate Wayne Rooney in last summer’s World Cup. Ronaldo was instrumental in getting Rooney the red card and after the referee showed the card, Ronaldo was clearly seen on television smiling and winking at the Portuguese bench. It didn’t go down well in England!
But his performances this year have lit up the Premiership and as well as all the tricks, he is also produces an end product as well. In previous years he just danced around, did numerous step overs and it all looked pretty but hardly anything came of it. I always thought he was one of those luxury players, the type that may do something special once in a while, but as well as being too infrequent, you never knew when. That has now changed. As I say there is an end product to go with the tricks and you don’t have to wait too long now.
Ronaldo beat Chelsea’s Didier Drogba into second place. Drogba can probably feel a little unlucky. The kind of season he has had would probably have been good enough to win the award must years. But it just goes to show how good Ronaldo has been.
The other contenders were Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fabregas.
Ronaldo said last night, “It is a special night. It is amazing and a big honour for me to win trophies like this in the English Premier League. I am very proud. My colleagues have voted for me and that is fantastic because the players know the qualities of players.
“I want to keep working hard and getting better because these trophies have now given me more motivation.
“This great team has helped me because when the team wins it is easier for us all to play with more confidence.”
His manager, Sir Alex Ferguson praised his player by saying, “At this moment in time, I think he is the best player in the world and his season has been incredible.”
The Soccer Blogger