No matter whether you love them or not, or which you consider the greater, no-one can deny that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dazzled world football over the past few years. The two best footballers in the world have not only masterminded and scored some top goals week in and week out in the Spanish league, they have also orchestrated victories at the European level and for their national teams on the world stage. And there is an added edge to their now annual head-to-head for the world player title as they play on opposite divides of one of sport’s great arch rivalries – Messi for Barcelona and Ronaldo for Real Madrid.
For the past few days perhaps those of you who are either Messi fans or Ronaldo fans will have endured an anxious wait for the news from FIFA announcing the winner of the Ballon d’Or at a ceremony in Switzerland on Monday night. It was Real Madrid’s Ronaldo who finally came out on top to win the coveted world player of the year award and so put an end to Messi’s four-year dominance.
In my opinion Messi has been a worthy winner these past four years but I think it is difficult to refute the fact that Ronaldo deserved the honour this year. Just take a look at his record in 2013, it is remarkable; the Portugal captain scored a whopping total of 69 goals in the 59 matches he played over the year. That is phenomenal! Although he failed to notch any winner’s medal either domestically or in European competition in the past year, he almost single-handedly carried Portugal to this summer’s World Cup in Brazil by scoring all four goals in the two legs of the World Cup playoff against Sweden.
Of course it should be noted that Messi hit 45 goals in 46 appearances for club and country in 2013, which is a great feat, and also picked up a La Liga winner’s medal. But the Argentine’s chances of claiming a fifth title were hindered by injuries that sidelined him for a long spell at the end of the year. There is no doubt that both are among football’s all-time greats, and it seems to me that the feats of one player spur the other to greater deeds.
I’m sure most football fans don’t begrudge Ronaldo his award as he is a worthy recipient, and the same could be said if the verdict had gone the other way. Ronaldo’s and Messi’s dazzling performances and many sublime goals have brought much entertainment and enjoyment for millions of football fans around the world. It’s that kind of healthy competition that drives them to do even better and that keeps us fans watching time after time.
The same applies to the competition in local racing. Many have observed that our races and the contests between our jockeys are of an even higher competitive level this season. Our race meeting last Saturday also reflected the true international flavour of racing in Hong Kong, as the 10 races were won by jockeys from six nations, namely Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Germany and Hong Kong. Among the winners was Italian jockey Mirco Demuro, who rode Really The Best to obtain his first win in his first short-term riding stint in Hong Kong, which is definitely a good start that will help him in getting more confidence and support from trainers and owners.
Mirco has seven rides at tonight’s Happy Valley night meeting and I’ll be watching closely to see if he can build up a winning sequence this evening. For the eight races on the card, I will be paying extra attention to the Fung Mo Handicap, which is the last race of the day but is the sporting highlight of the evening. It is a Class 2 event over 1200m, with an expanded rating band of 105 to 80, which gives some horses of Class 1 ratings a chance to participate. El Zonda is the only horse who made use of this opportunity. He is one of the outsiders who has a place chance, even he has to come from the back of the field which is not easy on the C Course we are running today.
The good pace of the race is likely to be set by Charity Joy and New Glory, which will help giving all horses a fair chance, with Bullish Friend and Tai Sing Yeh well placed behind the two early leaders. Both are place chances for me especially Bullish Friend who is coming back in form. Imperial Rome has to come from the back of the field but is capable of running very fast last sections to make him a win and place chance. Tour De Force has been given a break from the end of October till now, but he is working very well and has records of performing well first up. Despite his wide draw, he has Joao Moreira on board and is for me a win and place chance too.
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