Christiano Ronaldo has won UEFA’s Best Player in Europe award beating out teammate Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann to the award.
The Real Madrid and Portugal forward had a stellar year winning the UEFA champions League with Real Madrid including scoring the winning penalty and also winning the Euros with his national team Portugal.
Though he only played 25 minutes of the final, he was still an important cog and was inspirational for his team.
Christiano Ronaldo was modest about his award though saying that he felt Antoine Griezmann deserved it.
“As I said on the stage, he [Griezmann] deserved to win this trophy,” Ronaldo told the media after collecting his prize. “He lost two finals so it was unlucky for him but I think he’s a fantastic player, he’s a good boy, he’s my neighbour – he lives next to me – and he deserved it.
“But he will win for sure one day – I hope so.” he said.
Ronaldo, who has scored 32 goals for Madrid in 2016, is also hoping to collect his fourth Ballon d’Or but refused to take all the credit without thanking his team-mates.
“I hope to win the Ballon d’Or but let me enjoy first this trophy. It’s amazing. I wish to win tonight and I’m so proud. I have to thank you to my teammates – Real Madrid and national – because they helped me a lot to win these trophies.”