World Player of the Week: Cristiano Ronaldo - Real Madrid

Welcome to Goal.com's regular feature: Goal.com World Player of the Week. Each week our worldwide team of editors will put forward a selected candidate, as chosen by Goal.com International, who deserves recognition for achieving something special that matchday. It won't necessarily be the best player in the world - at least not usually - but whoever we nominate will have done something amazing. It might be for a particularly awesome performance or for something praiseworthy off the pitch - either way, the person in question deserves special attention...

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Goal.com World Player of the Week #105: Cristiano Ronaldo (Castrol Ranking: 3)
Club: Real Madrid
Country: Portugal
Age: 26
Role: Forward
Achievement: Set a new Pichichi record in Spain with brace against Almeria

The Real Madrid forward scored twice in their emphatic 8-1 victory over Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening, to finish the 2010-11 league season with a total of 40, nine more than Barcelona star Lionel Messi, and surpassing his 2009-10 mark of 26.

The previous record of 38 goals in a single season in the Spanish top flight was jointly held by Madrid striker Hugo Sanchez (1989-90) and the legendary Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra (1950-51).

Ronaldo, though, remains humble despite the achievement and said: "The only reason I have scored so many goals is because of my team-mates, and I am extremely appreciative. The Pichichi is for them and the fans.

"I am generous with my team-mates and they are generous with me. I wouldn't have scored 40 goals in La Liga without them."

Honourable Mentions

Emmanuel Adebayor – Real Madrid (Castrol Ranking: 892)

The Togolese forward may have played his last-ever match for Real Madrid against Almeria in the Primera Division on Saturday evening, but he bagged a memorable hat-trick in front of the Santiago Bernabeu faithful.

Gabi – Real Zaragoza (Castrol Ranking: 222)

Gabi scored twice against Levante on Saturday evening to maintain Zaragoza’s top-flight status in Spain. His goals pushed Deportivo La Coruna into the Segunda Division.

Alexis Sanchez – Udinese (Castrol Ranking: 47)

Udinese clinched qualification for the Champions League on Sunday evening with a goalless draw with Italian champions AC Milan, and once again the Chile international forward starred. Sanchez won the penalty and was a handful for the Milan defence throughout.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – Schalke (Castrol Ranking: 154)

The Netherlands international striker has had a decent 2010-11 campaign and wrapped it up with two goals against Duisburg in their 5-0 victory in the German Cup final on Saturday.

Hugo Rodallega – Wigan Athletic (Castrol Ranking: 619)

Rodallega scored the winning goal against Stoke City on Sunday afternoon that kept Wigan in the Premier League.

Falcao – Porto (Castrol Ranking: N/A)

The Colombia international forward continued to shine in the Europa League as he scored the winner against Braga in the final in Dublin on Wednesday evening. It was a fitting end to the 2010-11 campaign for Falcao, who had already shattered Jurgen Klinsmann’s record of 15 UEFA Cup goals against Villarreal during the semi-finals. He finished the season with 17 goals in the European competition.

Ronaldinho – Flamengo (Castrol Ranking: N/A)

The Brazilian star displayed a great performance against Avai in the opening round of the Brasileirao. Ronaldinho scored a goal, assisted in another and started the moves that ended in the two other goals in Flamengo's 4-0 victory.

Maxi Moralez – Velez Sarsfield (Castrol Ranking: N/A)

Maxi Moralez was the best player in the Copa Libertadores in midweek as he scored twice in their 4-2 victory over Libertad. Then, at the weekend, he netted again to help Velez win 2-0 against Gimnasia and go three points clear in the Clausura. 

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