Trendy soccer has lengthy been dominated by the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with the pair additionally presently within the swansong part of their careers. Followers and specialists have been left break up over the 2, and haven’t been capable of attain a conclusion. In the meantime, Messi has at all times stored a impartial stance and has by no means actually weighed in on the controversy. Then again, Ronaldo has at all times been vocal about it, claiming that he’s the best of all time on many events.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have gained 77 official trophies in whole.(AP) What did Cristiano Ronaldo say?
Ronaldo’s current assertion got here on a Spanish tv present, the place he mentioned, “I’m talking about numbers. I think I’m the most complete player to have existed. In my opinion, I think it’s me. I do everything well in football: with my head, free kicks, left foot. I’m fast, I’m strong. One thing is taste—if you like [Lionel] Messi, Pelé, [Diego] Maradona, I understand that and I respect that—but saying Ronaldo isn’t complete… I’m the most complete. I haven’t seen anybody better than me, and I say it from the heart.”
The previous Actual Madrid participant additionally added, “Who’s the best goal scorer in history? It’s about numbers. Full stop. Who’s the player in history who’s scored most goals with their head, their left foot, penalties, free kicks? I was looking the other day, and not being left-footed, I’m in the top 10 goal scorers with their left foot in history. And with my head, and with my right foot, and penalties. All of them.”
Angel di Maria’s response to Cristiano Ronaldo
Angel di Maria, who is without doubt one of the few gamers to have been teammates with each of them, determined to reply to Ronaldo’s claims. Di Maria and Ronaldo had been teammates at Actual Madrid, earlier than the previous’s departure to Manchester United. In the meantime, Di Maria additionally performed with Messi for Argentina, profitable notably the 2022 World Cup title, the place he additionally scored within the ultimate.
In an interview with InfoBae, the Benfica star mentioned, “I’m not surprised, I was with him [Ronaldo] for four years. It was always like that. He always made those statements, he always tried to be the best, but well, he was born in a generation, just at a bad time, because another one was born who was touched by the magic wand [Messi].”
“The reality is shown in numbers. One has eight Ballons d’Or, the other five. There is a very big difference. Being a world champion is another very big difference, having two Copa Americas. There are many differences, many. And then you see him in the games, you see it in every minute of every game, that one plays as if he were in the backyard. He hits the same goal as always and keeps doing it. And he’s been doing it for 18, 20 years.
“How long has he been doing the same thing? And everyone says, ‘but you already know what he’s going to do,’ well, go mark him and he’ll do it anyway and he’ll still be 40 years old and still do tiki-taka, tiki-taka. That’s how it is. But, well, Cristiano is like that too. He always made statements that way. It was always the same. For me, Leo [Messi] is the best in the world and the best in history, without a doubt,” he added.
Ronaldo and Messi are two of essentially the most embellished gamers in soccer historical past, having bagged 77 official trophies in whole (Messi has 44 and Ronaldo 33) throughout their senior careers to this point, and have additionally gone previous the 50-goal barrier in a single season many instances.