Brick wall gives way as Ronaldo gets his reward

Cristiano Ronaldo has banged his head against the brick wall for four years; now the brick wall has given way.

Ronaldo was apparently doomed to be forever tortured and defined by Lionel Messi. By regaining the Ballon d’Or from Messi, and winning the award for the first time since 2008, he has produced the most decisive reminder – if one were needed – that he is one of football’s all-time greats.

Ronaldo’s victory, which was confirmed at the endearingly absurd Fifa ceremony in Zurich last night, is a triumph for strength. The physical part we know about. The cliche that he is a freak of nature has not diluted its essential truth.

Ronaldo is a cross between Dixie Dean and Usain Bolt. He scores goals in quantities which, since Dean’s era, have only really been seen on bright screens in musty bedrooms, while he is 6ft 1in and scores headers so classically immense that it feels as if they should be shown in black and white. Yet he can also cover 96 metres in 10 seconds while wearing football boots, as he did during a match against Atletico Madrid in 2012.

For all that, Ronaldo’s physical strength is arguably dwarfed by his mental strength. He has overcome myriad obstacles to win the Ballon d’Or for the second time. “First of all I have to say a great thanks to all of my team-mates with the club and the national team,” said Ronaldo. “Without all of their efforts this would not have been possible.

“Everybody that has been involved with me on a personal level I have to thank. My wife, my friends, my son. It is a tremendously emotional moment. All I can say is thank you to everybody that has been involved. I am very happy, it is very difficult to win this award.”

The last part felt like the deadpan understatement of the night. It is not easy being Ronaldo. His whole career has been conducted against a backdrop of suspicion and sniping – even to the point where he was publicly ridiculed by Sepp Blatter, which was a bit like being called hapless by Frank Spencer.

He is also perceived by many as selfish and self-obsessed to the point of having a messiah complex.

You could certainly understand if he had a Messi complex. He has to endure constant discussion of Messi’s apparent superiority, as a footballer and even as a human being. At times it felt as if Ronaldo simply could not win. If he scored four, Messi would score five.

Ronaldo’s most impressive feat is not to usurp Messi; it is to believe he could do so in the first place. Yet Messi is one of only three apparently unbeatable opponents Ronaldo has had to contend with. He has taken on Messi, Barcelona and Spain, at times single-footedly. Part of that challenge broke even Jose Mourinho; Ronaldo continues to return for more. One nemesis down, two to go.

Nor has he escaped football’s vicissitudes since moving to Madrid. He missed a penalty in a Champions League semi-final shootout against Bayern Munich; he did not even get to take one against Spain in the semi-final of Euro 2012. He could be excused for thinking fate had a vendetta against him.