Five players from previous eras who could have broken the Messi-Ronaldo dominance

The Messi and Ronaldo rivalry is well documented, so intense has it been over the last decade that no clear winner has been decided, with both sets of supporters having an abundance of valid claims upholding their argument that their candidate is the better of the pair.

They have won an equal number of Ballon d'Ors between them, 5 each (all the last ten editions). A plethora of records for mainstream yardsticks such as goals and assists have been set by the pair, and even other mundane records such as having scored in every minute of a football match (in the case of Ronaldo).

There have been all sorts of goals, screamers, solo runs, blistering shots, as Ronaldo and Messi raised the bar of goalscoring in a way not seen before, with both averaging over a goal per game ratio since they came in direct competition with one another in 2009.

Their brilliance has been so otherworldly that all other players in their generation refuse to be named in the same breath with them, accepting that the two are so good and far above them that they have to settle for being the best among the rest.

A lot of players from times gone by also achieved legendary feats, and even though no player before Messi and Ronaldo managed to sustain such superb performances at the elite level for over a decade, it could be argued that Messi and Ronaldo had an advantage over them in this regard, in that none had a direct rival in the same circumstances that both had each other, which undoubtedly spurred each on to continue striving to reach greater heights.

Messi and Ronaldo are rightly considered among the greatest of all time, and while it is difficult if not downright impossible to compare players from different eras due to changes in playing patterns and tactical evolution, these under-listed players were also considered the greatest in their generation and of all time.

Here are five players from the previous five decades who would have challenged the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly.

Honorable mentions: 1990s (Zinedine Zidane), 1980s (Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten), 1970s (Gerd Muller), 1950s (Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas)

1990s: Ronaldo De Lima

O Fenômeno ("The Phenomenon") was the standout player in the 1990s. Known for his speed, agility, dribbling and clinical finishing, he is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time.

The 'original Ronaldo' was an elite striker of immense proportions, and on his transfer to Inter Milan in 1997 became only the second player after Diego Maradona to break the transfer record twice (after his record-breaking transfer to Barcelona just a year earlier in 1996). Interestingly, both transfers came before his 21st birthday.

Ronaldo showed a lot of promise from an early age, making the victorious Brazil squad to the 1994 World Cup aged only 17 (albeit without making an appearance), and won the prestigious FIFA Best Player in the World award in 1996, aged just 20 years (the youngest player till date to win the award), retaining it a year later in 1997 in addition to that year's Ballon d'Or.

Alongside Zinedine Zidane, he holds the record for most triumphs at the FIFA World Best award (with three each), and but for an unfortunate knee injury in 1999, which kept him inactive for almost three seasons, would undoubtedly have created a bigger legacy in football.

He retired from football with over 400 career goals, and is an inductee of both the Italian and Brazilian Halls of Fame. He is the second highest goalscorer in Brazilian football history (behind Pele) with 62 goals from 98 international appearances.

1980s Diego Amando Maradona

Diego Maradona is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time

The greatest player in history? Diego Maradona is widely considered by a lot of pundits and fans to be the greatest player of all time, and was voted as the joint FIFA Player of the 20th Century in 2000 along with Pele.

He was known for his dribbling, skilful nature, sharp reflexes and quick reaction time; Maradona was the epitome of perfection on the football pitch, effortlessly gliding past numerous players at a time, despite usually being earmarked for rough tackling by opponents.

Nicknamed "El Pibe de Oro" ("The Golden Boy"), Maradona put in one of the most dominant individual displays in a World Cup tournament when he almost single-handedly led Argentina to victory at the 1986 Mundial in Mexico, especially in the quarter-final against England, where he scored two very popular goals for contrasting reasons, first with what has been dubbed 'The Hand of God' where he used his arm to lift the ball over Peter Shilton's reach, with the goal awarded as referee Ali Bin Nasser hadn't seen the foul.

The second is widely considered to be the Goal of the Century and involved Maradona embarking on a 60m mazy run from midfield and dribbling across the England defense, leaving a hapless Shilton sprawling on the floor before slotting into an empty net.

As controversial as he was talented, Maradona courted attention wherever he went, for both positive and negative reasons, and was the first player to break the transfer record twice, first with his 1982 transfer to Barcelona, and two years later to Napoli.

Despite all his controversies, what cannot be denied Maradona is his charismatic abilities and influence to lift his team.

Countless players have been named as his heirs, but it is one of the subjects of this piece (Messi) that has come most close to reenacting his legacy, and indeed, both players are extremely similar in style, playing pattern and stature. Maradona dominated his era, and there is no doubt that if he were to be in this generation, he would have had a huge say in Messi and Ronaldo being considered the best of their generation.

1970s Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is the greatest Dutch player in history

The most famous exponent of the 'total football' philosophy introduced by the Dutch team of the 1970s under the management of Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff is the greatest Dutch player and one of the greatest players of all time.

Beginning his career with his hometown club Ajax Amsterdam, Cruyff helped the Dutch club achieve numerous success, including winning the European Cup on three consecutive occasions between 1971 and 1973. He continued his incredible performance after his world record transfer to Spain with Barcelona and was the first player to win the Ballon d'Or on three occasions (1971, 1973 and 1974).

A proponent of developmental football, Johan Cruyff had an extremely important influence on the strong academy programs at Ajax and Barcelona where some of the brightest young football talents in the world are produced, and his legacy influenced future legendary coaches such as Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Ariggo Sacchi, and players like Xavi and Iniesta.

He is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in football history, due to the lasting impacts of both his playing and coaching careers. He has a move named after him the 'Cruyff Turn' which he introduced at the 1974 World Cup, and the success of the Spanish and Barcelona teams from 2008-2012 was as a result of the foundations he laid during his time as Barcelona coach in the 1990s.

He is highly revered by former players, fans and journalists and is a member of several all-time greatest teams, and would undoubtedly have challenged the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly for the best player in the world awards were he in this generation.

1960s Eusebio

Eusebio is SL Benfica's greatest player ever

Just like Maradona to Messi, Eusebio preceded Ronaldo as Portugal's greatest player, and for many years was also their record goalscorer, until his record was broken by Ronaldo in 2014.

Nicknamed 'The Black Panther', Eusebio was famed for his speed, technique and blistering shot, he is one of the greatest strikers of all time, and was the first-ever recipient of the European Golden Boot in 1968, a feat he repeated in 1973, in addition to winning the Bola de Prata (Portuguese league top scorer) a record seven times, and is the second highest pre-Champions League European Cup goalscorer with 48 goals behind Alfredo Di Stefano.

A legendary goalscorer, Eusebio spent 15 years with Benfica, winning numerous titles including 11 Primeira Ligas and one European Cup, and is their record goalscorer with an astonishing 473 goals in just 440 matches (over a goal per game ratio).

He was the Golden Boot winner at the 1966 World Cup, and is widely considered among his peers to be the greatest player in history, with Alfredo Di Stefano (himself considered one of the GOAT) stating on his death in 2014 that: "For me Eusébio will always be the best player of all time".

1950s Pele

Pele is the only player in history to have won the World Cup three times

The first name that popped into everybody's mind, you know you need no introduction when the President of the United States concedes that you're more popular than him, with Ronald Reagan stating at a 1982 meeting that: "My name is Ronald Reagan, I’m the President of the United States of America. But you don’t need to introduce yourself, because everyone knows who Pele is”.

Pele is widely considered by many to be the greatest player in history, and is the only player to have won the World Cup on three occasions, being part of the victorious Brazil teams at the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups.

He burst onto the scene at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a 17-year-old, putting in a spectacular performance which courted world attention and was also instrumental in the 1970 World Cup triumph.

He was a prolific goalscorer during his prime, and achieved distinct success with Santos, leading them to numerous domestic and international success and was voted the joint Player of The Century alongside Diego Maradona by FIFA in 2000.

There is no doubt that if Pele were present in this generation, Messi and Ronaldo could not have duopolized the discussions of the best player in the world.