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The 2014 FIFA Ballon D'Or ceremony will start at 18:00 CET this very same Monday. Tomorrow, that is. There have not been as many reports about it in comparison to last year's award because of Real Madrid's shaky start to 2015. Or maybe because there's already a clear winner. And that should be Cristiano Ronaldo.
3 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo should win the 2014 FIFA Ballon D'Or
- His achievements this year - It's not that easy to compete against this. He underperformed in the World Cup, but he was playing through a serious knee injury. Other than that, Ronaldo almost won it all, beating the record for most goals scored in a Champions League edition, winning the Golden Boot ex-aequo with Luis Suárez for his goals in La Liga while receiving awards such as the UEFA Best Player in Europe or La Liga's Best Player.
- Ronaldo's 2014 was even better than his 2013 - He won it last year, and these past 12 months have been even better for Ronaldo, so there's no reason for him not to win it again. In addition to the awards mentioned above, Real Madrid won the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
- He has no true competitors - Neuer did not even win the German Player of the Year award. Real Madrid scored four goals past him at the Allianz Arena, and he might not be the world's best goalkeeper -- Courtois? --. His bid to this FIFA Ballon D'Or seems silly. Germany completely destroyed Brazil in the World Cup and also conquered the trophy, but it was a collective display and not entirely Neuer's doing. Furthermore, Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup with some key performances by Casillas and FIFA still gave Messi -- the best player that year -- the award. On the other hand, the Argentinian did not raise a single trophy during 2014 and showed some worrying signs while Barcelona fell short in the Champions League, Copa del Rey and La Liga. At his best, he could arguably compete against Cristiano Ronaldo, as he has immense talent, but the Argentinian attacker wasn't in good form this year.