Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, the legendary Brazilian striker, has chosen Messi over his namesake as the more complete player of contemporary times. Ronaldo thinks Messi is more “spectacular” than Cristiano.
The Brazilian was talking to Clarin where he said,
“I choose Messi.”
“I see Messi more complete. He does things in a most spectacular way.”
Speaking of the Brazilian Ronaldo, he scores over Cristiano in numbers. Ronaldo was a sensation inside the box. He seldom failed to convert. He retired having scored 467 goals in 678 games. Also known as ‘El Fenomeno’, out of these 467 goals he scored, 405 were for the clubs he played and the rest, which is 62, he scored for Brazil.
In comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t too shabby either; the Portuguese striker has an impressive haul of 461 goals in 646 appearances for club and country.
We really do not need to stretch our imagination far to try and understand that Cristiano might someday break “El Fenomeno’s” record. Cristiano himself is a phenomenon after all.
Ballon d’Or getting closer
The Ballon d’Or ceremony is not too far off and Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar are the contenders for the award. Though this is nothing new for Messi and Ronaldo. For the past seven years no other footballer has come close to their tally and they have shared the prize between themselves. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or four times in a row and Ronaldo has won it thrice.
Neymar comes close this time but it is unlikely that he will be able to snatch it from Messi or Ronaldo. Comparisons between the two have continued to rage since the time they started to make an impact. Between themselves they are making and breaking records, sharing awards.
If we look at the statistics of Messi and Ronaldo this season so far then we will figure out that Ronaldo is indeed ahead of Messi. But one must also consider the fact that Messi has enjoyed less game time than Ronaldo due to an injury. Messi has made a total of 17 appearances in all competitions this season. He has five assists to his name and he has scored 12 goals. Ronaldo, on the other hand has appeared 22 times in all competitions with seven assists and 23 goals.
Neymar the third contender is already being touted as the next best after Ronaldo and Messi, but has not yet attained the stature of the other two.
