Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Why not let one of the greatest sportsmen of all time decide? Pele has his say.
Edson Arantes de Nascimento, known to you and me as Pele, is often considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time. So it is only natural that he gets asked the question: who is the greatest player currently… and the Brazilian’s answer was almost immediate:
“No doubt. As I mentioned, I think today there’s no doubt the best player, the best scorer & the best forward is Cristiano Ronaldo”
Well, that’s a pretty good answer!
Pele’s record goal tally is something to marvel at, between 7 Sep 1956 to 1 Oct 1977 the great man played in 1,363 games and scored a quite astounding 1,279 goals – goals that ranged from the mundane to the utterly out-of-the-world. Here’s a collection of his best goals… because, why not?
Lionel Messi outscored Cristiano Ronaldo this season, 54 in 52 for the little Argentine as compared to 42 in 46 for the Portuguese but the latter’s goals came for a more successful season. Real Madrid swept the double winning the Champions League and La Liga with Ronaldo playing far less than usual but challenging his energy far better.
How Many Goals Does Cristaino Ronaldo And Lionel Messi Scored In Their Career?
This was one of the most successful seasons ever for the 32-year-old – in addition to the league and European double he won the Club World Cup, and of course had started off the season winning the European Championships.
Lionel Messi finished in second position on this list last year but after enduring one of the most difficult 12 months of his life, he has dropped down to third this time around. It hasn’t been the best year for the diminutive Argentine, who lost the Copa America final to Chile – his 3rd loss in the final of a major tournament with Argentina in 3 years.
Here is the ‘Amazing Year’ For Ronaldo
The question is eternal and will continue being asked long after these two have hung up their boots, and each time you’ll get a different answer. This time too it’s no different, with Pele himself having earlier said that Messi is the best player in the world (at that time Barcelona were dominating the football world). While Messi was arguably a touch better on a purely individually this season, it can not be argued that Cristiano Ronaldo was the more effective.
Ronaldo then guided Portugal to the Euro 2016 triumph where Seleccao beat France in the final to lift win their first ever major international honour. Not only that, he then beat arch-rival Lionel Messi to win his 4th Ballon d’Or, while he was also crowned FIFA’s Best Player of 2016.
I’m very happy – an amazing season, we’ve won trophies. This is one of the best moments of my career – I have the chance to say this every year!”said Ronaldo.
Leave a Reply