Joao Pereira is tipping Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d’Or award and says it would be “a disgrace” if he did not win it.
The Valencia defender, a teammate of Ronaldo’s in the Portuguese national team, watched from close quarters as the Real Madrid man helped himself to a hat-trick in their country’s 3-2 World Cup play-off victory over Sweden in midweek.
Asked at a Press conference if that display confirmed Ronaldo deserves to get his hand on the award, Pereira was forthright in his reply.
“Do I need to answer that? Of course he deserves it. It will be a disgrace if he doesn’t get it.
“To think that he has only won it once in the last few years seems very unfair,” he claimed.