Manchester United’s Ronaldo wins another award

Manchester United’s Ronaldo wins another award

LONDON - Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo was on Friday named as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was second, with Ronaldo’s team-mates, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, third and fourth respectively.

“Cristiano was a runaway winner, and deservedly so,” said Paul Hetherington, chairman of the FWA.

The 22-year-old Portugal striker has already been named player of the year by his fellow professionals. Ronaldo has played an integral part in helping United to the verge of their English first Premiership title since 2003.

Arsenal boss tipping Ronaldo for award

Arsenal boss tipping Ronaldo for award

Arsene Wenger believes Manchester United Football Club ace Cristiano Ronaldo deserves the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award.

It looks like being a straight fight between the Portugal international and Chelsea’s Didier Drogba for the honour, and Wenger has his own opinion who should take the award.

"Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba would be my one and two," Wenger told Arsenal.com. "You don't expect Ronaldo to score so many goals and he can provide too.

“But as well I have huge respect for what Drogba has done. He has scored in some very big matches, also he has played in nearly all the games. It is very difficult to separate them really."

Ronaldo heads PFA award nominees

Ronaldo heads PFA award nominees

By Martin Smith

Ronaldo is one of six players nominated for the PFA award. Reflecting Manchester United's marauding season to date, elder statesmen Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are also nominated. Representatives of the other members of the Premiership elite - Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard of Liverpool and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas -complete the list.
Ronaldo, who is the outstanding favourite, returned to Old Trafford in July to the displeasure of the nation, fuelled by a rabid media campaign, after he was accused of playing a significant part in the sending-off of Wayne Rooney as England departed the World Cup at the quarter-final stage against Portugal. It looked at one stage as if Ronaldo would be forced to leave the Premiership.

Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, said: "This season was a big test for him, both of his temperament and his ability to rise above the abuse he received after the incident with Wayne Rooney, and he has passed with flying colours in every department. I was not sure after the World Cup if things would get back to normal at Old Trafford, but Cristiano has shown great maturity and proved himself to be a top, top player."

Much of the credit must go to Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager, who had managed to get Eric Cantona back on track a decade earlier, and who persuaded Ronaldo not only to stay but also to become one of the game's biggest draws. The showboating show pony of the past has transformed into a thoroughbred who can harness his box of tricks within a team ethic.

advertisement"He has still got the tricks," Taylor said, "and, if he was to perform them on the stage at the London Palladium, you would have to stand up and applaud. For him to be able to perform them on a football field, at full speed with everything going on around him, makes it all the more remarkable."

Drogba also came back from Germany last summer with something to prove. He had struggled to impose himself on Premiership defences in his first two seasons at Chelsea, only showing occasional flashes of what was to come. This season, however, he has scored 30 goals to keep Chelsea challenging for Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League honours, as well as winning the Carling Cup in February.

"What I have liked about Didier this season is the way he has committed himself to the Chelsea cause and how he has maintained such excellent form, even when Chelsea have been going through a sticky time," Taylor said.

Like Ronaldo, Fabregas has also been nominated for the Young Player of the Year award alongside Rooney, Kevin Doyle, of Reading, Tottenham's Aaron Lennon and Micah Richards, of Manchester City.

"Fabregas is usually at the heart of every [Arsenal] move," Taylor said. "He is going to be a player for all seasons if he keeps going the way he is."


PFA Player of the Year Nominees:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes (all Manchester United)

Young player nominees:
Kevin Doyle (Reading), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)