For the better part 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 insane number of goals, and propelled 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 truly connects the two is the ocean of abilities that separates them from the rest of the players in the world. There can be no doubt as to whether the duo already belongs to the pantheon of soccer greats of all time. Although any effort to determine the greatest soccer player of all time is subject to generational bias, it should be noted that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not, individually or collectively, the greatest soccer player.[s] of all time for the following reasons;

Cristiano is not the best ‘Ronaldo’ to play the game: Despite his unprecedented achievement on and off the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo is still not considered the best Ronaldo to ever play the game. Ronaldo de Asís (also known as Ronaldinho) and Ronaldo de Lima (the phenomenon) are the other ‘Ronaldos’ whose legendary attacking prowess is often compared to that of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo de Lima was a more explosive and complete striker who probably would have been the ‘World’s Greatest Forward of All Time’ had he remained injury-free throughout his football career, while Ronaldinho was the entertainer who, in his prime, wowed constantly to the world of 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 sheer skill, explosiveness, technical ability superior and the ‘wow’ factor, the two ‘Ronaldos’ are better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

Lionel Messi is not the best Argentinian player ever: 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 unfortunately Lionel Messi is not both. . Lionel Messi is not the best footballer Argentina has produced. That honor goes to Diego Armando Maradona. Maradona (widely considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time) is a soccer legend who inspired Argentina to win the world cup and SSC Napoli (in the Italian soccer league) to their first and second titles. of league. [Scudetti] in its history. He is the author of the most doubtful goal in the world (the ‘Hand of God’ goal) and FIFA’s goal of the century. There is practically a cult around the player in Argentina. Diego Maradona (and Pelé) is the benchmark for the illustrious South American nation when a new star arrives on the bloc. So while Messi has dazzled on the European stage, surpassing milestone after milestone and collecting scores of awards, his compatriots consider him the second best soccer player in the country’s history.

Both players have never won the World Cup: although the last rounds of the current UEFA Champions League would rival the FIFA World Cup in terms of quality, with talent from around the world increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few elite few, the World Cup The Cup still retains substantial symbolic value as a quadrennial competition pitting the best of one nation against the best of another. It’s no secret that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have never won (or inspired their respective countries to win) the FIFA World Cup. Cristiano Ronaldo has won a European Cup (the Eurocup) with his home country of Portugal, but has never been to the semi-finals or final of the World Cup, while Lionel Messi was disappointing in the semi-final and final of the 2014 World Cup with his home country Argentina, ultimately losing to Germany. The world (and Messi) was shocked when he was named best player and awarded the tournament’s Ballon d’Or. Lionel Messi is also a three-time Copa América runner-up with Argentina. Most of the soccer players like Zinedine Zidane, Pelé, 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 which they ultimately won. The same cannot currently be said of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Not the greatest goalscorers in football history: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are efficient, effective and phenomenal goalscorers with an incredible goal-per-game ratio, but they are not among the top five goalscorers 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 like Pelé, Romario, Josef Bican, Ferenc Puskas (he has a FIFA goalscorer award named after him), Gerd Muller. The scoring rate of these legendary players is more impressive than that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo given that they ended their football careers with a goal tally of over 800. So if scoring goals is what makes footballers great, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, having better players with better goals ahead, cannot be the best footballers of all time.

Both players have been accused of being criminals: both have problems with the payment of taxes with the Spanish authorities (the country in which they reside and play) and have therefore been accused of being criminals. After a lengthy trial that drew so much publicity due to his status as a supremely gifted athlete, Lionel Messi (and his father) were found guilty of failing to pay their taxes to the Spanish government, heavily fined and sentenced to two years in prison (he has since has agreed to pay a larger fine in lieu of a 21-month suspended prison sentence). His trial, guilty verdict, fine and (suspended) sentence damaged the credibility of him as a morally upright athlete who could do no 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), heavily fined and receive a suspended prison sentence.

His total goal tally is littered with too many penalties: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the top scorers of their generation. They score an obscene number of goals in a football season, but almost half of the total goals scored by both players come from the penalty spot. In soccer, penalties are the easiest way to score because it only involves the designated shooter and one goalkeeper to beat. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, being the designated takers of penalties for their respective clubs, always take all penalty kicks awarded to them or their teammates, increasing their goal tally. In the 2013/2014 football season in England, Luis Suárez of Liverpool FC (before moving to FC Barcelona to become Lionel Messi’s teammate) won the English Premier League top scorer award and shared the Golden Boot. European with Cristiano Ronaldo. him by scoring 32 goals in 33 games in open play without executing a single penalty. That is a record that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not yet have.

They play for the most valuable clubs in football: Messi and Ronaldo play for superclubs in Spain, where the best teams score goals in spades. Unfortunately, the new financial order of the second millennium gave birth to the modern super team, essentially creating a certain form of predictability in both the domestic 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 football clubs that can afford to buy and accumulate the best and most expensive football talent anywhere in the world, so Messi and Ronaldo are always surrounded and assisted by class players. world to help dominate. continental club football thus raising its international profile. Both clubs always have a host of world-class players at their disposal, leading them to completely dominate domestic (Spanish La Liga) and continental (UEFA Champions League) football competitions.

The benefit of playing in the modern era: It’s 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 an era where the game was played at an unrecognizably slower pace than in the modern era. That doesn’t make them any less great than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The game currently being played has changed due to changes in the rules governing the game and the quality of soccer balls produced and used. The players of the modern era are also fitter, faster and stronger than ever, but the players (especially the defenders) are technically weaker than ever. The 1990s Champions League expansions are also an advantage for the modern player: having a group stage allows for a margin of error that simply wasn’t there in the pre-1995 knockout-style tournament. It has never been easier for attackers: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would probably never score 40-60 goals a season in the 1980s, when the rules governing the game and the balls used did not benefit attackers (forwards), and the defenders/defenders were read. with world-class talent.

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’s worth remembering that in the 1970s and even the 1980s, most of Europe only watched the European Cup and UEFA Cup matches of its own national teams. So here’s a little suggestion; Next time Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score an impressive goal and someone on Twitter suggests that the debate (over the best soccer player) is over, head over to YouTube and spend ten minutes watching goals from Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Pelé, Ferenc Puskas, Roberto Baggio, Eusebio, Alfredo di Stefano, etc. There have been many geniuses in the game, and Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are part of that rich football history.

Generational and positional bias in soccer: The hunt for the best soccer player in history is like hunting for the Holy Grail. All soccer players (athletes) are products of their time. Because of the stagnation of soccer’s development relative to other sports, and because there are so many different positions and roles within those positions, it’s hard 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, top scorers such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will always be at the top of any list of the best players in the game.

Conclusion; Don’t be fooled that there won’t be another player like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, no one thought they would see another player like Diego Maradona.