Cristiano Ronaldo beats footballing world, Virat upscales Messi in Forbes List 2017

American business magazine Forbes released its annual list of players having highest brand values. 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were included in Forbes’ 2017 top ten list of sportspersons on the globe, having the highest brand values in the sporting circles.

Cristiano Ronaldo is at the fourth position behind 19-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, basketball stalwart LeBron James and the fastest-man-on-the-planet Usain Bolt, while Messi stands a distant ninth.

The year just got better for the face of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, as he too made it to the top ten and he, surprisingly, eclipsed the five-time Ballon D' Or winner from Argentina.

Virat Kohli is ranked seventh in the world, two positions above Messi. While the two footballers have been regulars, it was a first for Virat Kohli.

An athlete's brand value is his earnings minus the average earnings of the top ten athletes of his sport. The earnings exclude the athlete's salaries and the bonuses received from their sports and investments.Cristiano Ronaldo's brand value is of $21.5 million which has risen up by 13.2% of previous year's value. The leader of the pack, Roger Federer, is valued at $37.2 million, almost double of the Portuguese footballer's brand value.

Messi's brand value dipped by 10% of his previous year's value and ended him with $13.5 million brand value, five places behind his long-term Real Madrid rival.

The top ten athletes are:

1) Roger Federer - $37.2 million2) LeBron James - $33.4 million3) Usain Bolt - $27 million4) Cristiano Ronaldo - $21.5 million5) Phil Mickelson - $19.6 million6) Tiger Woods - $16.6 million7) Virat Kohli - $14.5 million8) Rory McIlroy - $13.6 million9) Lionel Messi - $13.5 million10) Stephen Curry - $13.4 million

Even though Messi has been at his brutal best and has arguably equalled/bettered Ronaldo's performance on the field, he's made to trail Ronaldo by miles in winning accolades - both personal and for the team.

2017 has seen Ronaldo beating Messi for every big trophy or prize at stake. Recently, the Portuguese striker won the World's Best Player Award at FIFA-The Best Awards. And goals on the pitch with toppings off the pitch must have made the Euro Cup 2016 winning captain a merrier man. 

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Real Madrid trail Barcelona by seven points in La Liga and sit joint at the top along with Tottenham Hotspur in their group of Champions League. If Real Madrid are to repeat or better their previous season's historic double, they'll need Ronaldo to repeat his heroics on the pitch.

Cristiano Ronaldo isn't going through the best of his forms and will only hope that him finishing above Messi helps him boost his morale and helps him get out of the slump in form.

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