12-21-2019, 02:43 AM
Cristiano Ronaldo put his enormous talent on display with a hat trick in World Cup qualifying, and the reward may be the Ballon dOr after a voting deadline extension on Wednesday improved his chances of beating out Lionel Messi for the honour. St.Louis Blues Shirts . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov. 29. FIFA said it was reopening the deadline due to the low number of responses received by last Fridays original deadline, and invited voters to switch their preference. Ronaldo became the favourite on Wednesday to beat Messi and Bayern Munich forward Franck Ribery for the world player of the year award, which will be presented on Jan. 13. Portuguese and Spanish sports dailies splashed Ronaldos photo across their front pages on Wednesday, when FIFA president Sepp Blatter expressed his congratulations to Ronaldo in a tweet reading "fantastic performance." Ronaldo has scored 13 goals in six games since Blatter said last month that he preferred Messi, an Argentine who plays for Barcelona. Ronaldo has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season. "Every year I show what Im about. Ive scored 40 or 50 goals a season and thats not enough for everyone. Im not obsessed with the (Ballon dOr)," Ronaldo said Tuesday. "I did my job as I have been doing all season. I dont have to answer to anybody. I do my talking on the field." Ronaldo, who won the award in 2008, has watched as Messi has won the award the last four years. But Messi has the edge in trophies over Ronaldo after Barcelona won the Spanish league last season. Ribery helped Bayern win a treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles. Blatters slight -- when he said Ronaldo spent more time at the hairdresser and compared his on-field personality to that of a commander -- has seemed to energize the player, who also equaled Pauleta as Portugals record scorer with 47 goals. At the Friends Arena in Sweden, Portuguese fans carried a banner reading "Commander Ronaldo" in response to Blatters comments, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also appeared to applaud Ronaldos heroics. Ronaldos scoring run comes with Messi sidelined by injury and unable to add to his own collection of awe-inspiring goals. Messi is expected to be out until the end of December because of a hamstring injury. The Barcelona forward said his left leg was pain-free on Wednesday as he collected his third Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in Europes domestic leagues last season. Messi, who has scored 14 goals in 16 games this season, was not asked about Ronaldos performance or his Ballon dOr prospects during the presentation, when questions were not allowed. Ronaldo will take the field again Saturday when Madrid plays Almeria. Blues Jerseys 2021 . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return. Custom St.Louis Blues Jerseys . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. https://www.cheapblues.com/ . A better question yet may be this: How many times has the same player been involved in both? Morneau hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and helped the Colorado Rockies turn the third triple play in team history as they beat the San Diego Padres 8-6 on Sunday. CURITIBA, Brazil -- Nigeria and Iran delivered the first draw of the World Cup on Monday as they ground out a scrappy 0-0 stalemate in their opening match in Group F. The draw at the Arena da Baixada in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba followed 12 mostly high scoring and attacking games. After a first half in which Nigeria failed to capitalize on its dominance, chances were few and far between in the second. In the early passages of play, Nigeria had shown menace, with much of its attacking thrust coming down the left with Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses combining to cause problems for the defensively-minded Iran side. Nigeria came closest to scoring in the seventh minute when an Ahmed Musa goal was disallowed after John Obi Mikel was adjudged to have fouled Iran goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi at a corner. Iran grew more confident as the game progressed and came close to scoring in the 34th when a Reza Ghoochannejhad header required a sharp save from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama. In the second half, both sides were guilty of sloppy passages of play, to the growing annoyance of the mainly Brazilian crowd. Players from both sides snatched at chances, and neither goalkeeper was troubled despite some frantic late pressure in the final minutes. "They had 11 people behind the ball, which made it hard for us to create chances," Mikel said. "Its frustrating because they sat back." Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said his team became anxious when it failed to score during a dominant opening 25 minuutes. St.Louis Blues Store. . But he added: "Respect to Iran, they had their game plan to sit back and defend and they did well." Keshi, who played for Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup, is already anticipating a backlash after the draw. "Win or lose Im criticized," said Keshi, whose side won last years Africa Cup of Nations. "A draw now, Ill be criticized. Its part of the game. In my country, its win at all costs and sometimes it doesnt go that way." The best chance either side has to progress in the tournament is to beat debutant Bosnia-Herzegovina, as Argentina is the firm favourite to top the group. Lionel Messi scored one of the tournaments best goals in Argentinas 2-1 victory over the Bosnians on Sunday. Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said the result was "fair" and that his players deserved "sympathy and respect" for performing on the biggest stage despite the impact of economic sanctions on the country -- which made it difficult to arrange friendlies. "Were not here to perform the role of the happy loser," Queiroz said. "The fans need to know the conditions we have endured for three years to get here." Queiroz wouldnt talk about the teams next game against Argentina. "Now Im so tired just let me enjoy this point we collected from Nigeria," he said. The draw means the winless World Cup runs of both teams continues, dating back to France 1998. For Iran, though, this was the first time it had not conceded a goal at the World Cup finals. ' ' '