This week Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or and there was a lot of discussion about it on social media. Many fans and journalists claimed that it was undeserved, while others had a different opinion. The truth is that, regardless of that, there is also a Peruvian footballer who has won the Ballon d'Or more than once, and that is Raúl Ruidíaz. Here we tell you the details.
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As we know, the award won by the former Barcelona player is the highest distinction for a player and he is the one who has won it the most times. Behind him is Cristiano Ronaldo with five of these awards, so there is even the question of whether Raúl Ruidíaz can reach him. The truth is that this is impossible, since the Ballon d'Or trophies that the Peruvian forward has are completely different from those possessed by international stars.
Raúl Ruidíaz's Ballon d'Ors
And it is that Raúl Ruidíaz has a total of three Ballon d'Ors for his performance in the Liga MX, but these were thanks to an award organized by the Mexican league itself and that only awards players from that competition. Therefore, our compatriot and forward of the Peruvian national team obtained this distinction due to his tremendous performance at Monarcas Morelia in the 2016/2017 season.
In that campaign, the national footballer won the Ballon d'Ors for best forward, best player, and top scorer in the Liga MX. 'La Pulga' scored 20 goals and surpassed all the attackers in Mexican football, and even the following year, he equalled that record again, but did not win any award because he was surpassed. However, nothing takes away from the Peruvian the honors that one could easily confuse with those won by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
In addition, this has not been the only award that Raúl Ruidíaz has won throughout his professional football career, since he has won the Seattle Sounders' Golden Boot three times (2019, 2020, 2021), which is awarded to the top scorer of the club in the season. Currently, the Peruvian is an idol of the mentioned sports institution in Major League Soccer.