Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is seen before receiving his Best Player UEFA 2014 Award during the C’League draw ceremony. (Reuters)
On the surface, only the sky seems to be the limit for Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Thursday the Portuguese striker was named UEFA Best Player in Europe - to add to the FIFA Ballon d’Or award won last January - mainly for his role in helping Real Madrid to win their 10th Champions trophy and establishing a new scoring record in the competition with 17 goals.
Superficially, everything in the garden is rosy for CR7 (his own registered trademark), being the highest earner at the Estadio Bernabeu and apparently on the way to becoming the club’s highest all-time scorer after putting away the remarkable total of 178 goals in 166 matches since joining from Manchester United in 2009.
After being praised lavishly by UEFA president Michel Platini in Monte Carlo, and after being given his latter award, Ronaldo said:
“One does not get tired of winning. The individual awards are something special and I must thank my team-mates for their help.
“This season I will try to be even better than last season. That’s difficult but it is possible.”
But is that really possible, given his age and recent fitness problems? Is he still on the way up or - with his 30th birthday coming in February - has he already peaked?
Up until March, he seemed set to continue his unrelenting progress.
However, he was then sidelined by a thigh injury for three weeks. Never one to miss a match willingly, he seemed to return to action too quickly for the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.
“It’s true that I pushed myself a little bit too hard last season and maybe should not have played in so many games,” he admitted earlier this week.
“But I don’t regret that at all. The objective was to win the ‘Decima’ (10th Champions title), and that was exactly what we did.”
Ronaldo looked clearly unfit in the Champions League final against neighbours Atletico, though he did score a penalty in extra-time. Neither did he look fit at the World Cup, scoring just once as Portugal crashed out in the first round.
Ronaldo seemed to have recovered his fitness by August 12, when he scored both goals in Real’s defeat of Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup. But within a week he was again struggling, coming on and off the field in the Spanish Super Cup against Atletico.
For a top sportsman, 29 is not really an advanced age, but Ronaldo possibly has an older ‘football age’ given that he has been playing almost 60 games per season - including appearances for Portugal - since making his debut for Sporting Lisbon in 2002.
“I still do not think I am 29. I know I am, but in my head I still think I am 23 or 24,” he said last week.
“I have to get used to the fact that my body is not the same as when I was 20.”
In the same interview he said he would to continue until the age of 36, and that he might like to end his career back at Sporting.
