We continue looking back at the year that was in football. Goal scoring is an art, not everyone is capable of scoring goals and at one point of time, scoring 20 goals in a season was considered as a pretty good haul but those games have long gone thanks to the exploits of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the two superstars will feature in our list of to 5 goal scorers in 2014 with the pair of them out to obliterate any record still not claimed by them. In recent times, Ronaldo has overtaken Lionel Messi at least in terms of goals scored and the start of this season has been a scorcher by the Portuguese and Madrid forward, he seems to be on another league at the moment and has scored more goals than most clubs have this season.
Without further ado, here are the top 5 goal scorers from 2014.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Real Madrid forward has been playing like the end of the world is coming and his entry into heaven will be based on how many goals he scores. His total for the calendar year is insane with 56 goals for the club and 5 for his country, so the country total might be a little low but 56 goals for the club is an insane number nonetheless.
This season he has scored 25 goals already and looks set to break a few more records which are held by his rival Messi. Ronaldo has electric pace and a keen eye for goal, his goal scoring record has improved vastly since coming to Real Madrid but that is partly because he is the lead man at the club.
By the time the season comes to an end, Ronaldo probably would have won his second consecutive Ballon d’Or award to go with last year’s award, Messi has some work to do to catch up with the Portuguese.
Lionel Messi
It is funny that people have started to question Messi’s form and goal scoring ability for Barcelona and Argentina. He could have capped a brilliant year had Argentina won the World Cup in Brazil that would have ensured he ended the season with a trophy.
Barcelona went trophy less last season and while Messi couldn’t achieve the heights of scoring like he has in the previous seasons he still was pretty prolific in front of goal. Messi was injured for a part of last season as well and fortunately for Barcelona and Argentina fans, he has looked better this season with Suarez and Neymar helping him in attack.
Messi has scored 58 goals in 2014, 50 for Barcelona and 8 for his country which is only 3 less than Ronaldo, he has scored 23 goals this season, only 2 behind Ronaldo, and so the argument that Messi has lost his touch doesn’t stand. If he continues playing like this, he could get the Ballon d’Or title back from Ronaldo.
Karim Benzema
You probably wouldn’t expect another Real Madrid player in the list with Ronaldo scoring goals left, right and center but Karim Benzema is the third highest goal scorer in the 2014 calendar year. The French striker has been in amazing form for Real Madrid, even though it is Ronaldo who often gets the plaudits for goal scoring.
The Frenchman has always done well in front of goal for the Galacticos and his stats reveal the same. Benzema has scored 13 goals so far this season with 36 goals in total this year. Benzema compliments the way Madrid plays, he may not be the focal point in attack but when he gets a chance you can be sure that he gets the shot on target and more often than not he does find the back of the net.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The Zlatan had to be on the list but he isn’t there just because he is Zlatan, he is there because Zlatan scored goals a plenty for club and country. Captain of Sweden and Paris St. Germain, many thought that him moving to PSG was a backward step but he moved there since he believed in the project.
Ibrahimovic scored 33 goals in 2014 with 30 goals for club and 3 for his country, he was missed in the World Cup since Sweden did not qualify but that does not detract from the fact that Zlatan is one of the best strikers in the World. Zlatan is one of the best finishers in the world and his kung fu background helps him in scoring some spectacular goals as well, England will remember it well, won’t they?
Neymar Jr.
Tied with the Zlatan with 33 goals in 2014, Neymar has been a star not only for club but for country as well. Neymar seems to perform at his best when playing for Brazil and although his performances for Barcelona aren’t too shabby, his form for his country is incredible.
Neymar scored 18 goals in 2014 for club while he scored an astonishing 15 goals for country and you have to count the fact that there were fewer international games played in a season and he missed a part of the World Cup due to injury, well he missed the 7-1 hammering from Germany but Neymar is the new poster child for Brazilian football.
He has scored 14 goals this season and with Messi also firing on all cylinders, this could be the season Neymar breaks from his club slumber and scores like he does for Brazil.
Picture courtesy: Fanpop, NDTV, CNN, The Mirror,Express, The Guardian & Sky Sports