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Ronaldo named greatest European striker since 2000

Cristiano Ronaldo has been voted as the greatest European striker since 2000.

BBC Sport conducted a poll on Thursday involving 32 of the best European strikers and pitted them against each other in a World Cup of voting.

BBC claim that “to be included on the shortlist, players must have scored at least 20 goals in three seasons and their international pedigree and success has also been taken into account.”

And, of course, they had to be European.

BBC journalists shortlisted the 32 best strikers in Europe to fans began voting in their thousands.

Let’s take a look at how the round of 32 panned out:

Last 32 results:

Match 1: Kylian Mbappe v Harry Kane – Mbappe 58%
Match 2: Gareth Bale v Alessandro Del Piero – Del Piero 72%
Match 3: David Villa v Romelu Lukaku – Villa 90%
Match 4: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar v Diego Costa – Costa 66%
Match 5: Antonio Di Natale v Edin Dzeko – Dzeko 63%
Match 6: Thierry Henry v David Trezeguet – Henry 97%
Match 7: Zlatan Ibrahimovic v Andriy Shevchenko – Zlatan 76%
Match 8: Alan Shearer v Thomas Muller – Shearer 77%
Mach 9: Wayne Rooney v Michael Owen – Rooney 72%
Match 10: Henrik Larsson v Mario Mandzukic – Larsson 77%
Match 11: Patrick Kluivert v Francesco Totti – Totti 71%
Match 12: Cristiano Ronaldo v Ruud van Nistelrooy – Ronaldo 90%
Match 13: Luca Toni v Robin van Persie – Van Persie 90%
Match 14: Karim Benzema v Berbatov – Benzema 66%
Match 15: Miroslav Klose v Robert Lewandowski – Lewandowski 78%
Match 16: Raul v Fernando Torres – Raul 70%

The most convincing winner of the last 32 was Thierry Henry as he breezed past compatriot David Trezeguet with 97% of the vote. Elsewhere, David Villa, Ronaldo and Robin van Persie all beat Romelu Lukaku, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Luca Toni respectively with 90%. In the all-English battle, Wayne Rooney got the better of Michael Owen but Harry Kane went out to Kylian Mbappe.

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Last 16 results

Match 1: Kylian Mbappe v Alessandro Del Piero – Del Piero 65%
Match 2: David Villa v Diego Costa – Villa 83%
Match 3: Edin Dzeko v Thierry Henry – Henry 97%
Match 4: Zlatan Ibrahimovic v Alan Shearer – Ibrahimovic 51%
Match 5: Wayne Rooney v Henrik Larsson – Rooney 70%
Match 6: Francesco Totti v Cristiano Ronaldo – Ronaldo 89%
Match 7: Robin van Persie v Karim Benzema – van Persie 73%
Match 8: Robert Lewandowski v Raul – Lewandowski 62%

Like in the round of 32, Henry won with 97% of the vote against Edin Dzeko. While Ronaldo breezed past Roma legend Francesco Totti. Zlatan Ibrahimovic squeezed past Alan Shearer by the smallest of margins, to join the likes of Del Piero, David Villa and Van Persie in the quarter-finals.

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Quarter-final results

Match 1: Alessandro Del Piero v David Villa – Del Piero 56%
Match 2: Thierry Henry v Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Henry 77%
Match 3: Wayne Rooney v Cristiano Ronaldo – Ronaldo 89%
Match 4: Robin van Persie v Robert Lewandowski – Lewandowski 70%

Now we’re getting serious.

Del Piero narrowly beat David Villa, while Henry, once again, eased past his opponent – this time Ibrahimovic with 77% of the vote. Ronaldo thrashed former United teammate Rooney, while Lewandowski got the better of another former Man Utd player, Van Persie.

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Semi-final results

Match 1: Alessandro Del Piero v Thierry Henry – Henry 83%
Match 2: Cristiano Ronaldo v  – Ronaldo 78%

Henry and Ronaldo breeze into the final after convincing wins against Del Piero and Lewandowski respectively.

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Final results

Cristiano Ronaldo v Thierry Henry – Ronaldo 54%

So, Ronaldo is the greatest European striker since 2000.

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Who can really argue?

Since making his professional debut in 2002 for Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo has scored a ridiculous 626 goals in 838 first-team appearances.

Read Also:Barca confident Messi can face Mallorca, despite thigh injury

He’s won trophies in Portugal, England, Spain and Italy as well as leading his nation Portugal to the European Championship and Nations League.

He may cherish his five Ballon d’Or but surely winning BBC’s greatest European striker since 2000 will list alongside all of his individual accolades…

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