Van Dijk Is Just Kidding, The World Is Too In Love With Ronaldo

Virgil van Dijk at the Ballon d'Or gala (Twitter @OfussballnewsO)

JAKARTA - Cristiano Ronaldo's brother, Katia Aveiro, does not like the jokes made by Virgil van Dijk at the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony on Monday, December 2, evening. The Liverpool defender said the Juventus striker was not a rival

Van Dijk was second behind Lionel Messi when the Barcelona forward won the sixth Ballon d'Or trophy of his career, while Ronaldo finished third.

Ronaldo chose not to attend the ceremony in Paris and instead appeared at the 2019 Gran Gala del Calcio in Milan to receive the 'Best Player in Serie A' award.

When interviewed by Dutch television station RTL7 before the Ballon d'Or gala, reporters asked Van Dijk about his chances of winning the prestigious trophy after only having one competitor (Lionel Messi) because Ronaldo was not present. The Liverpool defender replied: "Does he then deserve to be called a competitor?"

Unexpectedly, the joke annoyed Katia and attacked Van Dijk with long words on Instagram.

"I think some people are really frustrated !!! And unrealistic ... kind of humiliation!" Katia wrote.

"It is well known that Ronaldo will not win the prize tonight. Despite winning the collective title it is important. But this is another conversation and ahead we will see where the truth about football will come.

"Now, dear Virgil, where are you headed, Cristiano has been through it a thousand times. Look, my dear Virgil, Cristiano Ronaldo is a three-time champion in a country where you have played for years and still can't hold the trophy.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is even the best player and best goalscorer in the country where you play. By the way, I am even younger than you.

"Then, dear Virgil, Cristiano Ronaldo went elsewhere and became the best player in the history of the club. Real Madrid, you know something Virgil? Maybe it is, because this club, with Cristiano, beat you in the Champions League final. In this tournament, Ronaldo. already got five trophies, Virgil.

"And Ronaldo and his team-mates, crushed your 'Orange' in a final. Is that hard, Virgil? We have pity. And dear Virgil, in one of his less successful times, Cristiano Ronaldo won even more titles than you. Isn't it amazing?

"Now Virgil, win a really valuable title then we can talk. When you have some of those titles, which are really important, you can probably sit at the table with Cristiano."

Van Dijk's clarification

Not only Katia, the famous British journalist, Piers Morgan also attacked Van Dijk on Twitter social media.

"No ... @Cristiano is a much better player, you are not his level," tweeted Piers Morgan while quoting Van Dijk as reported by SPORTbible.

No .. @Cristiano is a far greater player, you're not in his league. https://t.co/MjaZwaq16b

- Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 2, 2019

Van Dijk then responded to Morgan's writing on his social media as well as clarified that he was just joking at the time.

"Hi Piers, if you don't jump right in on social media and listen to the whole interview, then you will know I am joking, and respect those two people (Messi and Ronaldo)," Van Dijk replied.

Hi Piers, If you don't jump on the social media bandwagon and would listen to the whole interview then you would know I made a joke, and only got respect for those 2 😀

- Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 2, 2019

For information, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Boots, both of which are records for European players. He has won 29 trophies in his career, including six league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship and one UEFA Nations League.

As a goalscorer, Ronaldo holds the record for most goals in the UEFA Champions League (127) and the combined record for most goals scored at the UEFA European Championship (9). He has scored more than 700 goals in his senior career for club and country.

Meanwhile, Van Dijk was only able to collect two Premier League trophies and two Scottish League Cups with Glasgow Celtic and one each UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool.