It is one of the great debates which has seemed almost impossible to settle. Many an hour has been wasted in pubs and over BBQs among friends who are in one camp or the other.
Not since the debacle that led to FIFA naming both Maradona and Pele as their ‘Player of the Century’ have battlelines been so harshly drawn between two competing sportsman.
It is up there with Ali and Frazier, Borg and McEnroe – or in an Australian context Ablett Sr and Jr.
As we stood around my BBQ recently the banter started to become quite heated. “Every time things get hard Ronaldo blames his teammates and throws his toys out of the cot” screeches one Messi supporter.
“Messi just cherry picks the work of Iniesta” claimed a Ronny fan.
“Can either of them do it on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke?” asks a friend’s annoying mate I didn’t really know that well and who won’t be receiving another invite…
Let me begin by saying that both are simply amazing footballers.
There is no point looking at their club careers in too much detail. Both have simply won it all. There are La Ligas, EPL titles, Cup triumphs playing at some of the biggest clubs in the world and multiple Champions League wins.
Individually to they have won a swag of awards including Ballon d’Or titles, La Liga and UEFA best player awards and FIFA world player of the year just to name a few. Trying to separate them on the strength of this is impossible.
On the international stage the fortunes of both players have seen peaks and troughs, but for me Ronaldo has been a significantly better performing across his career for his country.
Again this is not to say that Messi has not performed brilliantly at times for Argentina. But it must be remembered that Argentina are a team of stars who have won nothing over the past decade.
Every time they don’t win a title it is seen as a disappointment.
Ronaldo on the other hand is Portugal. Since scoring in the opening game of the 2004 European Championships as a 19-year-old, he has carried the team on his back and produced some amazing results for a country not quite at the same level as the major footballing world powers.
Messi’s record at major events (barring the 2014 World Cup) have been ordinary for a player of his class. Never has this been more evident than across the four Copa Americas in which he has led the Argentines.
In his first three Copa tournaments (2007, 2011, 2015) he managed only three goals (two coming when games were already decided) and none in 2011 when his nation hosted the tournament and as heavy favourites were bundled out on penalties to Uruguay.
In the 2015 and 2016 editions (2016 being the 100-year anniversary tournament played out of sequence), Argentina and Messi looked like finally fulfilling their potential only to squander the opportunity to Chile.
In 2015 Messi had a poor final while in 2016 he missed a crucial penalty in the shootout which handed Chile an advantage they never gave up.
At World Cups both he and Argentina were terrible in 2006 and 2010 when again they were expected to challenge. Brazil 2014 proved the pinnacle for Messi and his only real triumph individually for the national side bagging four goals and the Golden Ball award for player of the tournament.
His side however went down to an impressive German outfit in the final with Messi again struggling to put his stamp on proceedings. The wait for a trophy would continue.
Ronaldo’s World Cups haven’t been much better. A goal in each of 2006, 2010 and 2014 makes for a poor return, though in 2006 Portugal had a run which consisted of Ronaldo scoring the winning penalty to knock England out of the quarter finals.
His European Championships however have been something to behold.
In 2004 he scored two goals as hosts Portugal made the final. In 2008 they once again advanced out of the group and he was on the scoresheet. In 2012 he scored three goals including two against Holland to escape the group of death and another over the Czech’s in the quarter-finals in a gutsy 1-0 victory.
He did receive criticism in the semi-final for being the fifth member to take a penalty in the shoot out against Spain, which ultimately saw them knocked out before he was called upon to step up.
However he made amends in 2016 taking the vital first penalty in a quarter-final shootout before dominating the semi-final against Wales.
This for mine is the difference between the two stars.
Messi, with all the wonderful players Argentina have at their disposal, has been unable to lift his side when they have needed him most. While Ronaldo, often on his own and against great odds, has time and again pushed Portugal to results most thought not possible.
With Portugal making its second European Final in his time with the team Ronaldo now has the chance to lift a trophy and do something to elevate himself above Lionel Messi as football’s undisputed king.
bilal
Guest
Messi grwew up in Barcelona, the team is tailor-made for his style of play. He's only ever played one league, with a team that has had the best midfielders (Inni, Xavi, Fabregas etc) in the past decade, which is also one of the least aggressive leagues in terms of defensive and physical challenges. Ronaldo proved himself in two completely different leagues, winning golden boots and what not. Messi can't truly shine in any other team apart from Barcelona, cause he's had everything spoon fed at Barca and his lack of physical strength limits his abilities outside the Spanish style of play. How can you consider him the greatest of all time, given his lack of physical strength as a forward and him playing in a very non-aggressive league in a team tailor made for his abilities when you know he can't produce results in a weaker team or in a more physically demanding league? Not to mention his weak mental strength - shock retirements, missing basic penalties in key moments - and no International achievements. Messi is a magic dribbler of the ball, who can make opponents look childish with his nutmegs and shoulder drops, but if you are going to consider him the greatest of all time and limit Ronaldo to only as "one of the best" despite Ronaldo's physical, aerial, psychological superiorities, as well as being a better overall leader in a weaker Portugal side, than really, this is what is truly laughable. Maradona himself said Messi does not have leadership characteristics, because being a leader requires strong mentality and a self-belief that should inspire not only the leader but also his colleagues - and this fits Ronaldo perfectly after the Euro display, where he motivated his team even when he couldn't play! Ronaldo has proven himself in two completely opposite leagues and styles of play. And now on top of that, he has carried a mid-tier Portugal squad to an Euro Cup, while Argentina has had one of the best and most talented squads in the past decade or so and yet Messi was unable to lead his team to victory. I can guarantee you now, give Ronaldo Biglia, Di Maria, Pastore/Lamela as his midfielders and send Aguero, Tevez/Higuain up with him, and he wil give you much more international returns. Ronaldo is most likely set to win next year's ballon dor now as well, that should make Messi and Ronaldo sit at 5-4, respectively. Would you rather have one, or even two more ballon dor awards or have a major international trophy for your side? As a captain too? I think the choice is easy, and when a great like Leo Messi says he'd give in all his ballon dors for even one World Cup, the Ronaldo superiority is further confirmed, in the words of his rival - atleast for now. Hopefully Messi takes back his premature international retirement, because it truly is a loss to see one of the greatest players of all time suffering at the hands of repeated failure. Hopefully he is able to bounce back from this, the way Ronaldo has had to carry on despite constant failures at Portugal. And if one thing this Euro has shown everybody, is that the claim Ronaldo is a selfish player is complete bull. THe way he motivated his team of youngsters (mixed with veterans ofcourse) with Pep talks and sideline commands and chants, shows that the man would give anything to make his team win, even when he can't play. He simply just wont give up. And really, he deserves much more respect than he is given. The most charitable athlete ever, and people simply call him arrogant and rude. Haters..
Micro-Aggressor
Guest
Good article. How anyone can compare Messi's continued failures with a star-studded Argentina side that have been gifted with shockingly easy paths to finals in multiple tournaments, including this latest one (which was basically invented out of thin air with the express purpose of having them win it), to Ronaldo carrying a mediocre Portugal side on his back and inspiring them past genuinely world-class competition, will forever be beyond me. Messi's greatest performances for Argentina? Iran, Bosnia, Nigeria, 10-man Panama and United States of America. Nearly half of his goals came in meaningless friendlies. It's high time the Messi myth was well and truly shattered. He has never been, and never will be, as good as Ronaldo, and I have serious doubts he should be included into a serious conversation regarding the greatest players of all time. His size and ridiculous explosion make him arguably the most effective dribbler of the ball the world has ever seen, and he has an excellent ability to distribute play, but his off-the-ball movement is dire, his work-rate close to non-existent (he is always — not often, or consistently, but *always* — the player who runs the least on the pitch), useless in the air, incapable of scoring from a reasonable distance, technically bereft in terms of his skill set (when was the last time you saw him produce a rabona, a roulette, a rainbow-flick, a trivela, a nifty backheel, an elastico, or a backpass? The answer is never*.), his output is far too reliant on his surrounding unit (the number of touches he has per season is astronomically higher than Ronaldo's, yet the latter consistently surpasses him in the goals department, and their assist rates are about on par), and finally, he's extremely weak in terms of mentality (see his latest retirement tantrum). Messi is a media and institutional darling. A product of Catalan propaganda, Adidas sponsorship and FIFA and UEFA favoritism. Ronaldo is, was, and forever will be an infinitely better player. *And yes, these are all useful, not just circus tricks
QConners
Roar Pro
Have to agree with Grinch - 100% right. Every time a team plays Argentina or Barcelona, they change they're game plan to try to answer the question 'how do we stop Messi?' In most cases they don't any cant. But any team he plays in centres around him completely. Whether he's playing in the 9 or on the wing, the whole team plays off him, unlike they do with Ronaldo. Don't get me wrong at all, Ronaldo is obviously one of the greatest of all time, but Messi is the best. Just have a look at multiple quotes from past legends such as Lampard, Scholes, Ronaldinho etc. they all say Messi is the best.
Grinch
Guest
Ronaldo is and will never be on the same level as Messi. Just the fact that you are comparing them is laughable. It is something the media invented and needs to do. In no way shape or form are the two players comparable. If you were really a soccer analyst you would see the difference in their play. Did you see the picture of the whole Chilean national team focused around one man? Messi had a marker on him like a shadow during the whole match. Then when he broke free immediately 1,2, or 3 additional Chilean players would swarm him, tackle him etc. Ronaldo doesnt command near the attention that Messi does on the pitch. Why? Because he cannot dribble through multiple players like Leo can. Messi has a star studded team and Ronaldo doesnt? Let me put that to rest. How many games did Portugal play to qualify for the last WC? How many of those games did he actually show up in? They needed a playoff in an EXTREMELY WEAK qualification group in order to make it through. Ronaldo showed up in THAT match. Who contributed to getting them through that point? His teammates. Meanwhile did you see what Messi was doing for Argentina in South American qualifying? He was making Higauin look like an all star and was lighting up every South American team as well. Have you ever watched Conmebol vs UEFA qualifying? The physicality of those teams is 20x what it is in Europe. What do you think Messi would do against Azerbaijan? LOL WC 2014 is not even a question. Messi led that Argentinian team to that final single handedly.All the all stars in the Argentinian team? Where did they go? In the games he didnt score he created chances and assists for his teammates. Again another thing that Messi does better than anyone else. He created more chances than anyone else in the competition. This alone shuts all arguments up. Read this article http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossible/ Ronaldo did NOTHING that World Cup 2016 present time. Messi played limited minutes and leads Ronaldo in every statistical category. Ronaldo showed up in 1 game in the group stages and against Wales. He has taken more shots by himself than most teams!! His efficiency ratio is piss poor. Meanwhile Messi was showing the world how to score in every way possible, dribbles, free kicks from any angle you choose. Plus assisting his teammates as unselfish as he is and making his team around him better. Ronaldo has had a poor tournament by his standard and most standards up til Wales. Nani and Renato Sanchez have played excellent. I can go on forever on this but Messi carries his or any team far more than Ronaldo does. He makes his teammates better. He is a better player in every facet of the game except for heading ability which I will give Cristiano he is the best header of the ball I have ever seen. Messi has been in the discussion for the greatest player in history. I have never once heard that about Cristiano. I HAVE heard that about the Original Ronaldo though who was a better player. Simply put if you took a poll of past and present professional players you'd see the answer would be kind of one sided. Messi wins...