How fans reacted to Cristiano Ronaldo winning 'Player of the Century' instead of Leo Messi

Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo has had a scintillating run of form in the calendar year 2020, winning the Serie A title the previous season, netting 44 times in all. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner received a major setback when he lost out to Bayern Munich superstar Robert  Lewandowski at FIFA The Best Awards. However, he now rounds off his year after being crowned the Player Of The Century at the Globe Soccer Awards, ahead of his arch-rival and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo's decorated career stats 

Ever since his rise at Manchester United, Ronaldo has gone on to win almost every major accolade at the club level, while also winning the Euro 2016 with Portugal. His legacy was crowned by five Ballon d'Or titles, while also winning an equal number of Champions League titles. 

He has netted 756 career goals, one goal shy of equalling Brazilian football great Pele's record. All-time official goalscorer Josef Bican netted 759 goals in his decorated career. And the former Real Madrid superstar might be keen on overtaking him in a couple of games. Most recently, he was included in the France Football Dream team of all-time greats, occupying the left flank. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo Player of the Century debate emerges 

Ronaldo's scintillating career was ordained during the Globe Soccer Awards, which was hosted on Sunday in Dubai, UAE. Following voting from the fans, the Portuguese forward was crowned the Player Of The Century, beating his arch-rival Messi. The Argentina international and Ronaldo have gone neck to neck for more than a decade.

With the Player Of The Century accolade, the debate over who deserved it more has re-emerged, more so the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate with fans throwing out stats of the two footballing legends. Social media has been abuzz ever since the top honour for the 35-year-old, with fans tweeting about the same. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo 'happy' with the recognition 

Ronaldo took to Instagram to express his thoughts on winning the accolade. He said, "Couldn’t be happier with tonight’s award! As I’m about to celebrate my 20th year as a professional footballer, Globe Soccer Player Of The Century is a recognition that I receive with so much joy and pride! Once again, great Gala tonight in Dubai at such an amazing place as Burj Khalifa."

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Image courtesy: Globe Soccer Awards Twitter