@SCP_16 makes some good points but guys this is such a tired argument, forget it Messi will always be a beta Cristiano will always get the broads and the pussy and the trophies which makes him Alpha af
Name me a better RB right now? I read it just last week that Messi has more goals from outside the box than Ronaldo. And quick history lesson. Barcelona won 16 league titles before Messi appeared. They now have 24. Barcelona won 1 champions league before Messi appeared. Now they have 5. Real Madrid won 9 champions leagues before Ronaldo. Now they have 11. Real Madrid had 31 La Ligas before Ronaldo. They now have 32. This is not to say Ronaldo isn't absolutely amazing. Hes unreal. I LOVE that he is Portuguese. I LOVE that he helped Portugal get to 2 finals and LOVE the emotion he plays with when he plays for Portugal. I hope that he can lead Portugal in Russia to another victory. Ronaldo is amazing. He's, quite literally, the second best player I've ever laid my eyes on.
No it wasn't and that's why it was great. He had a good game while being hacked to pieces I wanna see more of this IDGAF attitude from this guy, enough of the pussyfoot bs
That's a foul. I hate the excuse "it's the first few minutes" bullcrap. A foul. It's like Casemeiro should have been sent off in the first half. Refs suck
So now that Messi is ahead in goals (his position makes it easier for him to score, especially from outside the box) you are all about goals. What a joke. As of right now, the credible soccer world disagrees with your assessment because the Balon & FIFA awards are currently in CR7's possession and he is favoured to retain them. It's seriously time for you to put a sock in it.
Trust me, FIFA and UEFA will do anything to prevent a Ronaldo repeat. Messi could disappear like he's done a number of important games thus season and quit on his national team again and FIFA and UEFA would still try to get him those trophies
Well, that was FIFA during the blatter era. Now that he's gone im a little optimistic that they will be more fair towards CR7 but who knows, you may end up being right.
@nbstriker8 To add to this, it's like the great Florentino Perez famously said: One Ronaldo goal is worth three Messi goals.
Messi is having a better year this season than Ronaldo. Messi is far and away Barcelona's best performer this season and it can be argued Ronaldo is Madirds third best, this season, after Marcelo and Modric. That's not to say they are better overall. Boys we can argue all day again today or just admit were all stubborn.
Serge Aurier, Dani Alves, Philipp Lahm, etc. Regardless, I see your point. Carvajal has progressed. I'd have to see where you read that. And as I've mentioned previously, how many of those were with his right foot? How many were on the run of play and not set pieces? Xavi and Iniesta have each won the league 8 times. Xavi has 25 titles when he was with Barca, Iniesta and Messi have 26. Xavi & Iniesta won the Euro, World Cup, and Euro again back to back to back. Messi lost the World Cup Final (had the easiest group and path to final) and lost to Chile in the Copa America twice with a stacked squad. Xavi & Iniesta make Messi who he is. Period. Ronaldo IS the team. That's the difference. Ronaldo elevates his teams and Messi quits on his teams. Ronaldo also made it to the World Cup semis in 2006, Euro 2004 Final, and Euro 2012 Semis. But as you've stated, agree to disagree. I just don't see how Messi is the bets now or ever. Messi apologists love to point to his Barca form as the only key identifier for his success, but they ignore his failure on an international level with a stacked Argentina team. Moreover, they ignore how amazing Barca was before he was there and how playing with two of the greatest midfielders ever to play influenced Messi's success.
Argentina being stacked is the biggest myth going. They aren't stacked. Messi is the team. They haven't won a qualifying game without Messi. If Higuian was half as good as Eder Messi would have won at least one championship. Don't forget, Portugal had the easiest path to the 16 Euro and Ronaldo was forced out of the final. That was a Portugal championship, not a Ronaldo one. Xavi and Iniesta are also so great because of Messi. It's a two way street. They won the Euros and World cup because of performances by players like Xabi Alonso, David Villa, Fernando Torres, Pique, Ramos, Casillas, as well. Look at that squad man! Stacked! Also, let's not compare federation's. Portugal is run like a great business compared to Argentina. Messi has had to pay for flights, hotels, security, busses for the entire team and staff. Out of his own pocket. AFA is a gigantic mess. The only way to influence them was to threaten retirement. It's not a like for like comparison. And as far as RBs go, the only one I could think of like Carvajal is Dani Alves. That kid at Monaco is good too. I'll see if I can find that article tonight. A quick twitter search (where I saw it originally) gave me this , just for this season. 7 - Lionel Messi has scored more goals from outside the box than any other player in Europe's top five leagues this season. Torpedo. pic.twitter.com/ZeeCUaYRzV— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 15, 2017
Argentina is stacked to shit. That is not a myth. They are loaded at almost every position, but a tad weak on defense. Overall, they've got star players like Higuain (tied the Serie A record for most goals in a season and scored over 100 goals for Madrid), Aguero, Mascherano, Banega, Di Maria, Enzo Perez, Pastore, Marcos Rojo, Lamela, Otamendi, etc. The Eder goal may never had happened had Kante played, but that's besides the point. Say what you want about Portugal's Euro win, but don't discredit Ronaldo. He was instrumental leading up the final with monster games against Wales and Hungary. As far as Xavi & Iniesta being a two way street, the fact that both players were hugely successful for both club and country, while Messi failed on an international level speaks for itself. You can also argue that Messi's recent success is due to Neymar and Suarez, but I won't go there. I agree on the AFA being sh*t. But let's not forget how much Portugal sucked up until 2004. Hell, we even hired Bento and Queiroz for f*cks sake. Ronaldo gets bad publicity, but he didn't quit on his country like a sore bitch, even after losing in 04, 06, & '12. I appreciate the article. Pretty insightful as I wasn't aware of that fact.
Wow, who is the person responsible for conning you into believing this? Seriously dude, this is a very insane and objectively incorrect thing to say. Argentina currently has a greater number of quality forwards (Higuain, Aguero, Dybala, Icardi) than Portugal has arguably had in their entire history. And this isn't mentioning players like Di Maria, etc. Just because they suck when they play for Argentina, does not mean they suck... as they clearly demonstrate at club level time and time again.
Higuian and kun aguero both suck for Argentina. Again, they have yet to win a game Messi hasn't played. They have 2 world class players, (Leo and Maschereno) and 1 up and comer with Dybala. Let's see how they play with the old Chile coach. Also, Messi was the golden boot (arguably undeserved) in world cup. And he was great in 15 and 16 copas up until the final. He brought them there. Also, Messi has the most goals AND assists for Argentina in history. What more can he do? Let's see if Argentina even qualify without Messi playing. They are a joke team and a joke federation.
Higuian blows for argentina. Dybala and Icardi haven't gotten regular callups. And plus, how many players do they need for 1 position. Their goalie sucks. Their defense is weak (Otamendi is solid and Rojo seems to be coming around but tore his ACL). Their midfield has Maschareno and who else? Di Maria is a good player. Overrated by Benfica fans. Compare them to Portugal. Messi and CR cancel each other. Portugal has a better GK, Defense and Midfield. Argentina has a better attack, of course.
Higuain may blow for Argentina but is still a top striker. He has the record for most goals in a Serie A campaign in history... Goalie is okay, back up for Manchester United, could be worse. Defense. Otamendi, Rojo, Garay, Funes Mori,Zabaleta... Not exactly top of the line stuff but certainly not bottom of the barrel by any stretch. On midfield, Di Maria could be overrated by Benfica fans, but that doesn't mean he isn't world class. You don't break a bunch of transfer records (including the EPL transfer record) by not being world-class. Then you got Pastore, Mascherano, Enzo Perez, etc. all players that are certainly of a very acceptable quality, regardless of standard. Ultimately, Portugal may very arguably have a better team, but that doesn't mean that Argentina is "just Messi".
Ronaldo can do more by himself than Messi can. When Portugal was 'just Ronaldo', he certainly wasn't invisible. Put Messi on a low calibre team and he will evaporate. He needs world class players amongst him to thrive.
I don't mean it to sound like he's playing with Belarus or something. More along the lines of....Hes the best play on a team that is normally vastly overrated strictly because he is on the team. Kind of like CR7 08-14 If Argentina is as good as you all say, this stat doesn't make sense: 69% - The win percentage of #Argentina in these WC Qualifiers decreases 69% without Lionel Messi. Banned. pic.twitter.com/DtEq4IY7H4— OptaJavier (@OptaJavier) March 28, 2017
So that stats you pulled were for 2018 WC Qualifiers only. Curious to see how the team performed in previous years. In regards to the WC 2018 qualifying campaign, they've lost 4 and tied 4. They lost to Ecuador, Paraguay, Brazil, and Bolivia. Losing to Brazil is understandable, and it is nearly impossible to win in La Paz. Regardless, this is only qualifying we're talking about. Should be pull highlights of their choke job at WC '14? What about losing to Chile twice and Messi missing his PKs? Does that table show him quitting on his national team after losing? Ronaldo has never done that, despite how negatively the media tried to portray him. At the end of the day, however, Messi has blown it with a much more stacked and talented national team than Ronaldo.
2015 Copa - 1 goal, 3 assists 2016 Copa - 5 goals, 4 assists Maybe he should have gotten injured so his team could win like Ronaldo though, right?
So Portugal didn't win with Ronaldo? Ronaldo didn't have clutch games with clutch goals against Wales and Hungary (bailing out our shitty defense)? Was Ronaldo not clutch in 2012, 2004 or 2006? Did he have Aguero, Di Maria, Pastore, Banega, etc.? Come on man. I totally understand your point, and I think you have a solid argument, I just think Ronaldo is way more of a physical specimen and player who is absolutely vital for his team's success. But hey, agree to disagree. That's why we BS on a soccer forum, I guess.