Over
the years, El Classico has been the climax of la Liga games, where the two
renowned Spanish giants go head to head in a battle for supremacy. This
exclusive match attracts millions of fans all over the world and leaves the
streets of Spain empty. In this match hormone levels are heightened amongst the
dramas and actions of the game, amongst the tension and fright of watching
fans. It draws the concentration of football loving nations to the center of Spain
whether Madrid or Barcelona. The catalian giants known as Barcelona have Lionel
Messi as their hero while Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo as their talisman.
These both players are blessed with great talents, talents that amaze the world
at large.
Cristiano
Ronaldo, who started his international career as of 2003 in a 1-0 win over
Kazakhstan national team, he scored his first international goal against Greece
in 2004, a match which Portugal lost 2-1. Ever since then, he has shown the
world how exceptional his talents are, breaking records and setting new
records. He won the Portuguese league with sporting Lisbon before moving over
to the English premier league joining Manchester united in 2005, there in the
English premier league he won three consecutive premier league titles between
2006-2009 and a champions league in 2008 amidst other trophies in other
competitions as well as the golden boot for being the highest goal scorer of
the season with 42 goals, and in the same 2008 he was named the world best
player and recorded the only premier league player to win the Ballon d’Or and
the second Portuguese player after Luis Figo to win this award.
In
2009 he was awarded the Puskas award by FIFA, an award given for the best goal
of the year, for his 40 yards winning goal for Manchester United to excel them
to the semi-finals of the champions league in 2008. He moved to Spanish La Liga
joining Real Madrid in a record signing of £80 million(€93.3million) being the
most expensive player ever sold in world football also giving Manchester United
a record as the highest earning club as of that same year. There in the Spanish
La Liga, under the management of manager Jose Mourinho the ‘special one’ or the
‘only one’ as he is fondly called, won the Copa del Rey in 2010/11 season with
a European golden boot award being the only player to win this award with two
different clubs, he broke Zarra’s record of most goals per minute, with a goal
scored every 70.7minutes, he won the Trofeo Alfredo Di Stefano as the best La
Liga player of the season in this same year. He won the Spanish La Liga in
2011/12 season and as well recorded the first real Madrid player to score for
the fourth game in a row at the camp Nou, his goal against real Mallorca being
the last match of the 2011/12 campaign saw him recorded as the first player to
have scored against every team in a single season in La Liga. In 2011/12 season
he was awarded a centurion cap for his country to mark his 100th
international appearance and still being the 3rd youngest player to
receive such honor after Lukas Podolski of Germany and Estonia’s Kristen
Vickmae. 11 more international goals will see Cristiano Ronaldo surpass pauleta
as Portuguese all time highest goal scorer and 28 more caps to beat the appearance
record set by Luis Figo, he is the only player to score in 5 consecutive La
Liga games.
On
the other hand, Lionel Messi the ‘lion of the tribe of Argentina’ as fondly
called had the world at his feet from onset, he had medical issues as a child
which Barcelona accommodated and helped him recover and because of this he is
entitled to the club for their generosity. Besides that, he is a fruit of the
Barcelona academy which has groomed so many world talents like Carlos Puyol,
Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and so on. All through his career
he has been exceptional and shown extra difference between world class and
world class. In 2005, he took Argentina to glory in the under-20 world cup and
was named the best player of the tournament seconded by Nigerian’s John Obi
Mikel, in 2004/05 he won the La Liga with Barcelona, in 2005/06 he won the
champions league, Spanish La Liga, and Copa del Rey with Barcelona, in 2006/07
he won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona, he also was among the Argentine team
that were runners up in Copa America of that same year, in 2008/09 he was among
the Barcelona team that won the treble ‘the champions league, Spanish La Liga,
and Copa del Rey, in that same year he won the 2008 Olympic gold medal with
Argentina, in 2009/10 he won the Spanish La Liga with Barcelona, and in 2010/11
he was in the Barcelona team that won a double ‘champions league and Spanish La
liga’, in 2011/12 he won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona. Amidst these trophies
he has also made personal names for himself; he was awarded in 2005’s under-20
world cup ‘the most valuable player and top scorer’, player of the year of
Argentina: 2005 and 2007, Copa America young player of the tournament 2007, he
has won the world best player in three consecutive seasons 2009, 2010, 2011and
setting the record as the only player to achieve such honor three consecutive
times in a roll. He won the bravo award in 2007, best Ibero-American player in
La Liga 2006-2008, FIFpro world young player of the year 2006, 2007, 2008,
FIFpro special young player of the year 2007 and 2008, world soccer young
player of the year 2006, 2007, and 2008. He made the FIFpro world IX 2006-07,
2007-08, UEFA team of the year and FIFA team of the year 2008.
In
conclusion, it is an obvious fact that these two exceptional talents are way
ahead of the rest of the pack (other superstars), their skill, tenacity,
records and achievement speaks for them but it is a very difficult decision to
make when it comes to who is the best. Come to think of it these two score
goals, the both are good spot kick takers, they have pace, Ronaldo plays with
both foot, Ronaldo scores with his head, Messi can run in between a group of
players, he can score unimaginable goals, Ronaldo can be a bit defensive when
it comes to team play and so on. All these are unique attributes of these great
players but when you let their past glories cloud your judgment it makes it
difficult to choose. I feel it is best to choose who is best based on their
performance in a certain season and with that it makes everyone to go home
happy, because in as much as they are both good but every season one has to be
better than the other.
a friend of mine made
this quote ‘ Messi is an alien while Ronaldo is a resistance’ for movie fans
that love the movie terminator.
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