ronaldo is so admired around the world. but I think the poll´s question is really debatable. I always had a doubt between ronaldo and romario. and van basten definitely deserves be mention in any debate about strikers of all times.ronaldo had more power, great at dribling(especially before his injuries) and always proved his talent in any team. romario had more class to finish. also, he was good in the air, fast as ronaldo(but not strong as ronaldo). romario proved his talent in PSV, barcelona, national team and during his years in brazil(he was top scorer in the brazilian league with age 40, the oldest top scorer in brazilian league. before that, the oldest was himself,top scorer with 35 years). van basten also was a genius. he had everything that a striker needs. he was amazing in the air, strong,had class to finish, good at dribling and proved his talents in ajax, milan and national team. this 3 guys are in the same level for me.oh,of course, I´m brazilian, sorry for the poor english.
1-Ronaldo 2-Romario 3-Van Basten 4-Batistuta 5-Henry missing Cantona, Sheva, Nistelrooy, Raul, Del Piero, Zola, Weah ...
Romário, "o baixinho infernal", the king of the penalty box. Honorable mentions for Ronaldo, Batistuta, Shevchenko, Weah and Van Basten.
Romario is most likely the second best striker ever in the history of the sport, pele might be ahead of him. Ronaldo had too short of a career. Romario has been scoring on any team in any league from 1985-2005 at will.
Ronaldo's peak years were probably better than the peak years of Romario (although the ball control of Romario should not be underestimated) but in terms of prolonged peak period, Romario has the edge. Romario was great for PSV, Barcelona and also very good for Vasco (the demolishing of that arrogant Manchester United side was wonderful). Romario was also excellent in a couple Copa's and without him Brazil had not qualified for the 1994WC.
alright here's the argument ender Romario has scored over 100 more goals than anybody on this list. His goals were not the most impressive goals but he has all the numbers, and if the purpose of a striker is scoring goals, he has more goals than anyone there's no arguing with that, it's just facts.
How about considering context like games played or competition? Manni Bugsmüller scored more goals than Marco Van Basten. It's a fact - so according to your argument he is better, right?
I agree. It has to be Romario. At 34-35 years of age he was still tearing it up in the Copa Mercosur, which in theory is a tougher tournament than Copa Libertadores. By comparison, Ronaldo just recently turned 35 years of age. Even if we agree that Ronaldo @ 21 > Romario @ 21, a higher peak can count for only so much. If you were going to own a club for 20 years, who would you take first? An 18 year-old Ronaldo or 18 year old Romario?
That's why when it comes down to it, Romario is the best, long career and always performing. Then again the 90s was a long time ago, a lot of people have not seen Romario play. In 10 more years we'll start leaving Zidane out of discussions of best midfielders ever just because a lot of people didn't see him play.
Not in this forum. We like to totally overrate older players. Look no further than the options in this poll which are heavily weighted towards the earlier part of the 30-year time period being considered.
How can people not list Flippo Inzaghi? Criminally under-rated yet, sooo decisive when Milan needed a saviour. Heck even at 37 he still owned Real Madrid only last season in the champs league. In no particular order my top 5 Batistuta Romario Ronaldo Inzaghi Van Basten Honourable Mentions to Cantona, RVN, Henry, Shevchenko, Raul, Crespo, Shearer, Morientes, Weah, Solskjaer, Vieri, Baggio, Zola and probably countless other legendary strikers i've failed to mention.
Diego Forlán Luis Suárez Edinson Cavani Ruben Sosa Antonio Alzamendi Honorable mention: Sebastián Abreu
I'll say Alan Shearer. At least he was the best striker of his generation, and better than Lineker. People only seem to remember his Newcastle days, but when he was at Blackburn, no-one could come close to his talent at that time.