His appearances total is crazy enough, even without his goal scoring stats
876 club games, 170 for his country. He made his debut for Portugal in 2003 and is still playing for them
Imagine if he was at Charlton , 12 starts a season , 14 substitute appearances , rested due to the medical staffs opinion and a couple of appearances at right wing back thrown in
His appearances total is crazy enough, even without his goal scoring stats
876 club games, 170 for his country. He made his debut for Portugal in 2003 and is still playing for them
Imagine if he was at Charlton , 12 starts a season , 14 substitute appearances , rested due to the medical staffs opinion and a couple of appearances at right wing back thrown in
Kish gets a lot of credit for kicking him in that game but I distinctly remember Graham Stuart booting him right up in the air- right in front of where I used to sit.
Messi is a natural footballer, Ronaldo has had to work for it.
Which makes it more impressive for me.
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Messi is a natural footballer, Ronaldo has had to work for it.
Which makes it more impressive for me.
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Literally two massively opposing stories.
Messi was fortunate, Ronaldo earned it.
Both are as said out of this world. Unreal.
I disagree with Messi being fortunate. To play at the level of elite football that he plays at, you need an unreal work ethic. You do not become arguably the greatest footballer of all time without copious amounts of hard work. Messi will have worked incredibly hard to get where he is, combined with a lot of luck and then an abundance of talent. The same with Ronaldo. He worked hard, had the talent to back himself up and got lucky by getting scouted. They both earned their positions in football
Messi is a natural footballer, Ronaldo has had to work for it.
Which makes it more impressive for me.
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Literally two massively opposing stories.
Messi was fortunate, Ronaldo earned it.
Both are as said out of this world. Unreal.
I disagree with Messi being fortunate. To play at the level of elite football that he plays at, you need an unreal work ethic. You do not become arguably the greatest footballer of all time without copious amounts of hard work. Messi will have worked incredibly hard to get where he is, combined with a lot of luck and then an abundance of talent. The same with Ronaldo. He worked hard, had the talent to back himself up and got lucky by getting scouted. They both earned their positions in football
You mean he wasn't fortunate that he had relatives in Barcelona who knew Rexach?
I mean, okay?
Sure he has still worked hard. I didn't deny that. I believe Ronaldo had a harder journey.
Messi is a natural footballer, Ronaldo has had to work for it.
Which makes it more impressive for me.
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Literally two massively opposing stories.
Messi was fortunate, Ronaldo earned it.
Both are as said out of this world. Unreal.
I disagree with Messi being fortunate. To play at the level of elite football that he plays at, you need an unreal work ethic. You do not become arguably the greatest footballer of all time without copious amounts of hard work. Messi will have worked incredibly hard to get where he is, combined with a lot of luck and then an abundance of talent. The same with Ronaldo. He worked hard, had the talent to back himself up and got lucky by getting scouted. They both earned their positions in football
You mean he wasn't fortunate that he had relatives in Barcelona who knew Rexach?
I mean, okay?
Sure he has still worked hard. I didn't deny that. I believe Ronaldo had a harder journey.
Not sure just anyone gets given a trial at Barcelona.
"When you saw him you would think: this kid can't play ball. He's a dwarf, he's too fragile, too small. But immediately you'd realise that he was born different, that he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be something impressive."
Newell's youth team coach describing a 12-year-old Messi
"By that age, the Argentine was already a phenomenon, having scored almost 500 goals in six years at the Rosario club."
He already had agents even at the age of 12.
"His agents, Fabian Soldini and Horacia Gaggioli arranged a trial at Barcelona with the help of Josep Maria Minguella and having brought Diego Maradona to the Nou Camp, it certainly helped when Minguella described Messi as the ‘next Maradona’ to club officials.
I don't think they'd have given him a trial and wasted everyones time if he was some random no hoper. You could say he was fortunate that Barca were willing to pay for his growth hormone treatment, but it's not like he was just given a trial as a favour to a mate.
I still find it hard why people always do the Messi v Ronaldo, everyone has a preference and its probably as close as it can get.
From above, i would say Messi is the more natural footballer, but Ronaldo the natural athlete.
My personal opinion is Messi , as my perspective is he is more of a team player and all round footballer, Ronaldo is more about himself and probably more likely to make an impact. football is the winner having such unbelievable footballers that you cant really choose or be certain who is the Greatest ever.
Messi is a natural footballer, Ronaldo has had to work for it.
Which makes it more impressive for me.
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Literally two massively opposing stories.
Messi was fortunate, Ronaldo earned it.
Both are as said out of this world. Unreal.
I disagree with Messi being fortunate. To play at the level of elite football that he plays at, you need an unreal work ethic. You do not become arguably the greatest footballer of all time without copious amounts of hard work. Messi will have worked incredibly hard to get where he is, combined with a lot of luck and then an abundance of talent. The same with Ronaldo. He worked hard, had the talent to back himself up and got lucky by getting scouted. They both earned their positions in football
You mean he wasn't fortunate that he had relatives in Barcelona who knew Rexach?
I mean, okay?
Sure he has still worked hard. I didn't deny that. I believe Ronaldo had a harder journey.
Sure he's lucky to have been scouted, same as Ronaldo, but I wouldn't put his career down to being just being lucky. I think most footballers are lucky to get to where they are, but that luck has to combine with hard work and talent.
If he didn't have relatives that knew Rexach, he would have still made it as a footballer, albeit maybe at a different club. If Barca didn't think he had potential, they wouldn't have given him a chance, regardless of his connections.
And Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency when he was young, if you would have told me that an 11 year old with a growth hormone issue would grow up to be playing at Messi's level I would have said you are lying.
Comments
During this era Ronaldo is without doubt the best footballer in the world.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/2250948/united-and-charlton-spy-in-portugal
Messi was nurtured from a very young age. Ronaldo literally started out at 17 scoring 5 goals and getting 4 assists across 31 games, including playing in champions League qualifying and uefa cup games.
He joined a club in the third division of the Madeira league system aged 7... Basically they don't have Sunday league there, but this would have been the equivalent on such a small island.
Aged 10 his talent saw him move to National Club Desportivo he didn't get a chance with Sporting until he was 12 and it took 5 more years to break through.
Messi was picked up at Newell's Old Boys aged 6 when he had relatives at Barcelona who knew the scout. Carles Rexach took a liking to the kid's calves and immediately decided he deserved a chance, despite his size and and as such was picked up at age 12 and was nursed from there.
Barcelona focused on building the team around him from a young age.
Literally two massively opposing stories.
Messi was fortunate, Ronaldo earned it.
Both are as said out of this world. Unreal.
With a run up he jumps higher than the average basketball jump!
Ronaldo is 6ft 1 and smashed his head into it. Ridiculous.
I mean, okay?
Sure he has still worked hard. I didn't deny that. I believe Ronaldo had a harder journey.
Newell's youth team coach describing a 12-year-old Messi
"By that age, the Argentine was already a phenomenon, having scored almost 500 goals in six years at the Rosario club."
He already had agents even at the age of 12.
"His agents, Fabian Soldini and Horacia Gaggioli arranged a trial at Barcelona with the help of Josep Maria Minguella and having brought Diego Maradona to the Nou Camp, it certainly helped when Minguella described Messi as the ‘next Maradona’ to club officials.
I don't think they'd have given him a trial and wasted everyones time if he was some random no hoper. You could say he was fortunate that Barca were willing to pay for his growth hormone treatment, but it's not like he was just given a trial as a favour to a mate.
Get Thomas to sign them both and we can see who copes best with a cold Tuesday night at Rochdale
From above, i would say Messi is the more natural footballer, but Ronaldo the natural athlete.
My personal opinion is Messi , as my perspective is he is more of a team player and all round footballer, Ronaldo is more about himself and probably more likely to make an impact. football is the winner having such unbelievable footballers that you cant really choose or be certain who is the Greatest ever.
If he didn't have relatives that knew Rexach, he would have still made it as a footballer, albeit maybe at a different club. If Barca didn't think he had potential, they wouldn't have given him a chance, regardless of his connections.
And Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency when he was young, if you would have told me that an 11 year old with a growth hormone issue would grow up to be playing at Messi's level I would have said you are lying.