A common debate encountered between
football fans is: Who is better??
Ronaldo
or Messi
When it comes to hardcore fans, opinions
don’t concord. Messi sure has the lead with his 4th Ballon d’Or but
it isn’t enough when he has a fierce competitor like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo’s transfer from Manchester United
to Real Madrid in 2009 made them stand head to head and pit against each other.
The rivalry between their clubs fuelled up the comparison talks between them.
While Messi was product of a brilliant product of Barcelona academy that they
exhibit ostentatiously, Ronaldo was brought at Bernabeu on popular fan appeal.
Although both have different roles,
different positions, different methods at their respective clubs, but the
comparison between them is inevitable owing to the fact that they have shared
last 5 Ballon’dor amongst them. Both give 100% to their clubs.
Ronaldo has an unflinching pace that takes
defenders with surprise; his sharp acceleration helps the cause. Messi likes to take defenders one-on-one
while inching closer to the opponents’ goal-line.
Well,
I am not taking any sides, but every individual has a right to have an opinion,
so in order to facilitate that I have garnered some points that can ease you into
making your judgment.
- Pace and acceleration: Ronaldo has a pace like a leopard, out-beating his markers is a walk in the park for him. Messi has sufficient pace to do the out-pacing and he puts his dab body in good use by making low profile supporting runs.
- Ball control and Dribbling: Dribbling is the Magnus opus of Messi. Infact most of his goals are the result of his gifted supremacy in dribbling. On the other hand, Ronaldo though has a supremacy in the step-overs (or the scissors), but he has been seen a little shy of perfectly executing at times.
- Assists: I consider both players selfless, though Ronaldo is often touted as a selfish player, but having played at winging position myself, I know that wingers don’t get many chances to prove their selflessness.
- Strategy: Both players are good at crafting clear-cut opportunities for their teams. They are not only great cool finishers but are equally expert in engineering opportunities that literally beg for finish.
- Shooting: Shooting from a distance is what has made Ronaldo a priceless treasure. His thunderous shots are a scary sight for even best of the goalkeepers. Messi hasn’t been seen much with the long shots but he can’t be underestimated for that.
- Acrobatics and weak foot ability: Messi has been termed weak in this particular department, and it is quite true owing to his meager 5’7” height, but in recent seasons, he has been making constant progress to subdue such allegations. Statistically speaking, he scores a fair amount of goals with headers. Ronaldo leaps over jumping defenders is a constant sight in Real’s game and its quite clear that there’s no dearth in his aerial abilities. Weak foot ability is a thing, though isn’t a necessary quality but is a great quality to have when bailing out from a compromising situation. Both wizards have excellent weak foot ability, which helps them to gain extra points and fan appreciation.
Another quite
impressive quality to consider is free kick taking ability. But I believe when
you are in a 5-star team, it isn’t a much needed one. Generally such teams
already possess a free kick genius, for example Barcelona has Xavi while Madrid
had the services of Beckham and Roberto Carlos.
The discussion
will not end, and may never end, but one thing’s for sure that the duo will
keep us entertained in the years to come.
