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Ronaldo's hat-trick against Kashima Antlers in the Club World Cup capped off a remarkable year for the legendary Portuguese. After a brief stint under Rafa Benitez that had everyone writing him off, CR7 came back with a vengeance under Zidane. He scored stunning goals (like the ones vs. Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol) and put in crucial performances (Roma x2, Wolfsburg, Barcelona) to win Real Madrid the Champions League, before traveling to France to stun the hosts. Despite getting injured horrifically in the final, his clutch goals vs. Hungary and Wales and his immense overall leadership played a decisive role in helping Portugal to their greatest period in their long and storied history.
His MCL sprain threatened his Ballon d'or hopes in the latter half of 2016, but he continued to put in clutch performances, like the ones vs. Sporting and Dortmund, before he capped things off with a potential title-deciding hat-trick against Atlético Madrid.
He ended 2016 with 4 major trophies, a Ballon D'or, and a place in footballing history.
What a year.