Has Messi surpassed Ronaldo
Football is an extraordinary game, and the game has pulled many heartstrings, and it has enticed people to follow their team and players all over the world. The game has brought opportunities for both monetary and economic gains. Football has reshaped the economy as spectators and football rights sold around the world have made the game lucrative, where FIFA and UEFA continue to dominate the sport with lucrative contracts for foreign screenings and streaming services.
The Champions League and FIFA World Cup generate billions, and millions of people follow their teams to different countries to watch the game every week, whereas the FIFA World Cup produces spectacular results in terms of financial gains and generates revenue for its stakeholders, boosting economic growth and development for the hosting country. The understanding of the game does relate to the development of new players and talents who embody the spirit of the game, and they try to create something different; in other words, to be the best that ever played the game.
Football has always generated talent in every country, and internal footballing organisations in respective countries have provided grassroots football, and this has led to generational talent. On the global stage, these football players have performed very well, and they have shown that they are the best in the world.
Pele is known to be the best player ever to lace his boots on the green turf, even though his global successes have surpassed his domestic career. He brought a different perspective to the sport, wherein his skills and bursting pace set the tone for football, as players want to add speed to their arsenal. Pele understood how to play, and he made goal-scoring an art that many footballers wanted to emulate.
Maradona had a different approach, but he still emulated some of Pele’s attributes, whereby his short and stocky frame gave him agility that made him glide with the football at his feet, and dribbling became his trademark. Even though many people might say he is not right for the game due to his deceitful ways, he still brought something to the game that Pele did not do, which was controlling the game and dribbling from one end to the other. Maradona’s successes in both club and international football put his name among the legends of the game, and he has written history with the ‘hand of God’ and his big personality on and off the pitch.
Johan Cruyff was the skill specialist, and although the Netherlands did not win any major trophies in his tenure as a player, his dominance in European football with Barcelona and Ajax made him a folk hero. The Cruyff turn is still being implemented by today’s players and up-and-coming football players. The Cruyff turn innovated the game, as this skill is still being used to manoeuvre past opponents, and when it is carried out properly, it has commentators on their feet.
No matter how the game keeps on changing, one thing is for sure that the game keeps on producing a lot of talent, and this is the case for Ronaldo and Messi. These two players have taken the game to a whole new plateau, and they have broken records in both club and international football. Messi has been an outstanding footballer, and so has Ronaldo; the competition has been remarkable, with both players competing at the highest level.
With eleven Ballon d’Or trophies between both players, surpassing all the legends that were mentioned earlier, and over three thousand goals scored between both players, they continue to control the game and become the main players that other players look up to. They have achieved everything that is meant to be achieved in this game.
The question has always been, who is better between these two players? And the question has been answered after Messi won the World Cup in 2022. Before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it was hard to say that Messi was better than Ronaldo and vice versa, but now the answer is straightforward, and no one would question that Messi is the greatest footballer of all time. However, we should not disregard or disrespect the achievements of Ronaldo on the pitch and some of his highlight reels that he has brought to many football fans around the world. But in terms of achievements and accomplishments, Messi has won that battle.
Both players have achieved a lot, and no other footballer in this generation can emulate their achievements and successes. Messi is not a better player than Ronaldo, and Ronaldo is not a better player than Messi, but if the question is based on accolades, then Messi is ahead of Ronaldo. Ronaldo will still be a household name for years, and Ronaldo will forever be a bigger celebrity than Messi.
Both players should be applauded and appreciated while still playing because they will be hard to replace when they retire from the game. However, Messi has surpassed Ronaldo both on and off the pitch since Messi’s move to the US. Messi has become a bigger household name than Ronaldo and has notably won more trophies than Ronaldo.
