For most of the last decade, two names have dominated world football (soccer) more than any other; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These great rivals have broken countless soccer records, scored an incredible number of goals, and pushed each other to greatness despite the fact that they are two very different soccer players, playing two very different styles in two very different roles for two different clubs. The only thing that really connects them is the ocean of skills that separates them from the rest of the players in the world. There is no doubt that the duo belongs more to the pantheon of football greats of all time. Although any effort to determine the greatest footballer of all time is subject to generational biases, it should be noted that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not individually or collectively the best footballer.[s] of all time due to the following reasons;

Cristiano is not the best ‘Ronaldo’ to play the game: Despite his unmatched achievement on and off the field of play, Cristiano Ronaldo is still not considered the best Ronaldo who has ever played the game. Ronaldo de Assisi (aka Ronaldinho) and Ronaldo de Lima (the phenomenon) are the other ‘Ronaldos’ whose legendary offensive prowess is often compared to that of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo de Lima was a more explosive and well-rounded forward who probably would have been the ‘World’s Best Forward’ had he remained injury-free in his football career, while Ronaldinho was the cheerleader who, in his heyday, constantly captivated the world of football. soccer. . Cristiano Ronaldo is better than other ‘Ronaldos’ in terms of constituency over the years, phenomenal goal rates, overall fitness and long career (due to low injury rate), but out of sheer skill, explosiveness, technical ability. superior and the ‘wow factor, the two’ Ronaldos’ are better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi is not the best Argentine player of all time: it is a well-known fact that for a footballer to be the best in the world, he has to be the best footballer in his country and, sadly, Lionel Messi is not both. . Lionel Messi is not the best footballer Argentina has produced. That honor goes to Diego Armando Maradona. Maradona (widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players in history) is a soccer legend who inspired Argentina to a World Cup victory and SSC Napoli (in the Italian Soccer League) to their first and second league title. [Scudetti] in its history. He is the author of the most doubtful goal in the world (the goal of the ‘Hand of God’) and the FIFA Goal of the Century. There is practically a cult around the player in Argentina. Diego Maradona (and Pele) is the benchmark of the illustrious South American nation when a new star arrives on the block. So while Messi has dazzled on the European stage, surpassing milestone after milestone and collecting stacks of awards, his compatriots consider him the second best soccer player in the country.

Both players have never won the World Cup – although the later rounds of the current UEFA Champions League would rival the FIFA World Cup in terms of quality, with talents from around the world increasingly concentrated in the hands of a select few, The World Cup still retains substantial symbolic value as a four-year competition pitting the best of one nation against the best of another. It’s no secret that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo never won (or inspired their respective countries to win) the FIFA World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo has won a European Cup (The Euros) with his home country Portugal, but has never been to the semi-finals or the final of the World Cup, while Lionel Messi was disappointing in the semi-final and final of the Cup. 2014 World Cup with his native Argentina, finally lost to Germany. The world (and Messi) was shocked when he was named best player and received the Ballon d’Or of the tournament. Lionel Messi is also runner-up three times in the Copa América competition with Argentina. Most footballers like Zinedine Zidane, Pele, Diego Maradonna, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo de Lima, etc. Often touted as the best soccer player in the world, they all played dominant roles in the World Cup tournament that they ultimately won. Currently the same cannot be said for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

They are not the best scorers in football history: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are efficient, effective and phenomenal scorers with an incredible ratio of goals per game, but they are not in the top five scorers in football history. Neither of them has scored more than 700 goals in their respective careers so they cannot be in the company of great players such as Pelé, Romario, Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskas (he has a FIFA goal award named after him), Gerd Muller . The goal rate of these legendary players is more impressive than that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, given that they finished their football careers with so many goals until well into the 800’s. So, if scoring goals is what makes footballers great, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have better players with better goals ahead, cannot be the best footballers of all time.

Both players have been accused of criminals: they both have tax payment problems with the Spanish authorities (the country in which they reside and play) and have therefore been accused of criminals. After a lengthy trial that attracted so much publicity due to his status as an extremely talented athlete, Lionel Messi (and his father) was found guilty of failing to pay his taxes to the Spanish government, heavily fined, and sentenced to two years in prison (he has since agreed to pay a higher fine rather than have a 21-month suspended prison sentence). His trial, guilty verdict, fine and sentence (suspended) damaged his credibility as a morally upright athlete who could not be wrong and that of his football club (FC Barcelona). Cristiano Ronaldo is also being investigated for tax evasion by the Spanish authorities, he could be tried (or not), fined heavily and receive a suspended prison sentence.

His total goals are full of penalties: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the greatest scorers of their generation. They score an obscene number of goals in a football season, but almost half of the total goals scored, both players have come from the penalty spot. In soccer, penalties are the easiest way to score because they only involve the designated shooter and the goalkeeper to beat. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, being the designated penalty shooters for their respective clubs, always take every penalty awarded to them or their teammates, increasing their goals. In the 2013/2014 football season in England, Liverpool FC’s Luis Suárez (before moving to FC Barcelona to become teammates with Lionel Messi) won the English Premier League’s top scorer award and shared the European Golden Boot with Cristiano Ronaldo. by scoring 32 goals in 33 matches in open play without penalizing a single penalty. That’s a record that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo still don’t have.

They play for the most valuable clubs in football: Messi and Ronaldo play for superclubs in Spain, where the best teams score goals through the hat. Unfortunately, the new financial order of the second millennium gave birth to the modern super team, essentially creating a certain form of predictability in the national and continental leagues. Lionel Messi plays for FC Barcelona in Spain, while Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid CF also in Spain. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF are extremely wealthy and dominant soccer clubs that can afford to buy and store the best and most expensive soccer talents anywhere in the world, so Messi and Ronaldo are always surrounded and assisted by players from world class to help dominate. continental club football thus raises its international profile. Both clubs always have a host of world-class players at their disposal, leading to absolute dominance in national (Spanish La Liga) and continental (UEFA Champions League) soccer competitions.

The benefit of playing in the modern age: It is almost impossible to compare players from different eras in a game that has changed so much over the years. Great footballers like Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano played in a time when the game was played at an unrecognizable slower pace than in the modern era. That doesn’t make them less great than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The game that is played today has changed due to changes in the rules governing the game and the quality of the soccer balls produced and used. Modern-era players are also fitter, faster, and stronger than ever, but players (especially defenders) are technically weaker than ever. The Champions League expansions of the 1990s are also an advantage for the modern player: having a group stage allows a margin of error that simply did not exist in the knockout-style tournament prior to 1995. It has never been easier for attackers : Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would probably never score 40-60 goals per season in the 1980s when the rules governing the game and the soccer balls used did not benefit the attackers (forwards), and the defenders / defenders were full of trash. with world-class talents.

They are part of the rich history of football – we see the history of the game through our own national experiences, or at least we did until the modern era, where we can watch the Spanish league, Messi and Ronaldo every weekend. It is worth remembering that in the 1970s and even the 1980s, most of Europe only saw the European Cup and UEFA Cup matches of their own national teams. So, here is a little suggestion; The next time Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score an impressive goal and someone on Twitter suggests that the debate (about the best soccer player) is over, head to YouTube and spend ten minutes watching the goals of Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Pele , Ferenc. Puskas, Roberto Baggio, Eusebio, Alfredo di Stefano and so on. There have been many geniuses in the game, and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are part of that rich soccer history.

Generational and positional bias in soccer: The search for the best soccer player in history is like that of the Holy Grail. All footballers (athletes) are a product of their time. Due to the stagnation of soccer development relative to other sports and because there are so many different positions and so many roles within those positions, it is difficult to have a worthwhile conversation about who is the greatest soccer player of all time. Since the main objective of the game is to score a goal, the best scorers like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will always be at the top of any list about the best players in the game.

Conclusion; Do not be fooled that there will not be another player like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, no one thought that he would see another player like Diego Maradona.