Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have cheapened the value of the stupefying ball-warping goal and improbable individual skills that I used to sporadically see in the world game.
My arsenal of superlatives has been bled dry and my eyes now have the consistency of sandpaper from continually rubbing them in disbelief.
How am I expected to remain gobsmacked time and time again when these blokes make the ludicrously sublime seem like a bland weekly procedure?
In Australia, where the local codes rule, these gold nuggets from the world game are the basic fuel that drives my interest in the sport, keeping its hands waving for attention among the crowded sporting horizon.
But these grandiose specialists have bizarrely numbed the small glimmer of hope that football has in competition for time and airspace with my colossal love of Aussie footy.
My appreciation of round-ball has come a long way from the days before internet and pay TV, when football was an hour of abbreviated highlights meshed in with some smooth articulation from Les Murray.
Cosmopolitan clubs, prima donna players, extravagant pay cheques and mind-blowing scenes of drama from the paddock have put the game firmly on my radar nowadays.
However, these majestic masters are making me blasé again.
Lionel just topped 60 goals in all competitions in Europe for this season, the first time this has been achieved in nearly 40 years. And he accelerated to this mark on a recent run of 23 goals in his last 12 games.
And as for Cristiano, I observed him reaching his own Spanish League record of 40 goals for the season this week after smacking in not one, but two of the finest long range collector’s specials you’ll see.
God forbid that for once he just knock one in off his shin, or jag one from a grubby deflection?
And can Lionel appear even slightly human by not gold-stamping just one match?
It’s like watching a David Copperfield DVD on repeat.
Give me a reality check. I need a drip of 0-0 draws stat.
Harsh Sinha
Roar Guru
Messi is one of the best dribblers of all time. Maradona and Ronaldinho can match his feat but surely not Ronaldo. Even Cryuff and Best were better dribblers than Cristiano. He is more of a trickster than a dribbler.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
El clasico this morning, Real have gone a fair way to sealing the championship with a 2-1 win over Barca at the Nou Camp, with Ronaldo scoring the winning goal, a few of Barca's stars missing today. I got some interesting stats about this fixture from one of my favourite twitterers, and this one was the best: Messi no ha marcado en los últimos 3 clásicos
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Let's not forget that el clasico is on overnight. Mañana te toca Leo!
shock some
Guest
Cristiano doesn't take long shots a lot. You are false. Maybe some games more than other but not all the time. Sometimes he'll go a whole game without taking 1 long shot. ANd when he does miss those shots, they hardly go into "Row Z" A lot of them barely miss and they still leave you like " Wow. That was an amazing shot!"... You have to understand something about C.ronaldo: His technique for everything is flawless. If you watch how he strikes the ball, whether spot kick or pass or shot, its perfection. His crosses and passes don't curve, or lob, they go directly to where the ball exactly needs to be. There's no player that does that in this world. And his TRICKERY. DO you ppl have eyes to watch CR7 trickery???! his quick 1,2 no look spin pass that has the defenders hitting each other in the head. Come on, you can't take anything CR7 does for granted. While Messi has the ball glued to his foot, then scores only cheeky goals, CR7 is assorted, He's got the left, right foot, header, Trademark free kick, long range shots, & TRICKERY!
eduardo
Guest
Yeah, and Messi would have to roll theball because he couldn't get it into the air.
Roarsome
Guest
Agree, they are bad for the game. As punishment they should have to play out their careers at the Roar :) -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
A.
Guest
The short answer is that he (Cristiano Ronaldo) isn't one of the greatest dribblers of all time. He's good at it but that's not his best factor as he relies too much on his top speed rather than ball control when going past players ( if you don't give him a paddock you nullify his dribbling threat to a large extent). Messi, OTOH, is a much better dribbler for the opposite reason.
Steve
Guest
Ronaldo single-handedly beat Atletico the other night, however if you consistently watch Madrid's games, you would see that he does take quite a few shots from way outside the box, a decent majority of them end up in row z. When they come off they look spectacular - but they are high risk and he does do them a lot (you'll see at least 4 or 5 a game where you think "why did you do that cristiano?"). Anyway I think it's awesome how they are driving each other to the next level (they are even if they tell the media they aren't).
Bondy
Guest
You'd find a very stiff argument to suggest that both arent at the peek of their powers right now the goal scoring is phenominal, this form their shownig of late will be seen as their best work I beleive .
pfcjames
Guest
If they made the ball the same weight as it was a hundred years ago at least that would stop Ronaldo performing all those shots that you usually only see on the beach
Mohamed
Guest
Honestly, you just don't know what to think no more; it's just too much to handle! Just thankful that I'll be able to tell my grandkids, god-willingly, that I seen these two players play.
Mella
Guest
I was thinking the other day how can one player (C Ronaldo) be one of the greatest ever at dribbling the ball and beating players one on one, and be one of the greatest ever at striking the ball from long range. They are 2 completely different skills, you would think with all the billions of kids growing up playing football it would be theoretically impossible. Messi on the other hand relies on his out of this world close control at speed. Definitely the 2 best sportsman in the world.