Zidane delighted to call on ‘world’s best’ Ronaldo

Real Madrid to take on Al Jazira in Club World Cup semi-final today

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was delighted to be able to call on the “best player in the world” in Cristiano Ronaldo as his side gear up to defend their Club World Cup title.
Ronaldo won his fifth Ballon d’Or, for world player of the year, last week to draw level with his rival and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.
The debate about who is the greater player is a perennial feature of soccer punditry, but Zidane is convinced he has the world’s best at his disposal.
“I have the best in the world and he is showing it in this shirt,” Zidane told a news conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday. “I am delighted to have him, for me he is the best.”
Madrid face United Arab Emirates league champions Al Jazira on their home soil in the semi-final today, with the final on Saturday.
Although Madrid’s next La Liga match is a crucial Clasico clash against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Dec. 23, Zidane said his squad is fully focused on the inter-continental tournament.
“We will do everything we can to win this competition,” he said. “It will not be easy, first we have to get to the final. We’re only thinking about winning the Club World Cup.
“There are no easy games. We have a semi final against, a team that people say is easy, but we don’t think that it will be, quite the opposite.
“Look at last year against Kashima (Antlers). Against Real Madrid everybody wants to have a great game and for that we will go out focused.”
Madrid won the competition for the first time in 2014 and again last year, when they beat Japanese side Kashima Antlers 4-2 after extra time. The Spanish champions can become the first side to successfully defend the trophy since the tournament began in 2000 and can pull level with arch-rivals and record winners Barcelona on three victories.  Madrid trail Barca by eight points at the top of La Liga and finished second to Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League group, which proved costly as they were paired with free-spending Paris Saint-Germain in a blockbuster last 16 tie on Monday. However, traces of the Madrid that swept aside the likes of Bayern Munich, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona in the spring and summer were back as Real hit five past Sevilla before half-time in a 5-0 rout on Saturday.
Until then Madrid had lacked the same killer instinct as last season with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema scoring a combined total of just six times in La Liga, while Gareth Bale has made just one brief appearance as a substitute since September.  “We are improving in every sense,” said Zidane after thrashing Sevilla. “If you play well, you will create more chances. We created plenty of chances.”
 Ronaldo scored twice at the weekend to celebrate picking up his fifth Ballon d’Or in style and his return to form is timely, as Madrid face Barcelona in their final game of the year on December 23 once their work in the Middle East this week is done.