The Clash of the Titans : Messi vs Ronaldo

As the start of the La Liga approaches like a hurtling freight train the undoubted highlight of the season will be the showdown between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF. Barcelona, coming off a season where all before them were swept aside, and the rest of Europe watched in horror during the off season as of Florentino Perez assembled the “Galacticos 2.0”, of which the star acquisition was Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi are considered by most worldwide to be the two best players on the planet right now. Skill, Flair and the ability to leave fans wanting more both Ronaldo versus Messi is undoubtedly the battle of our generation. Tennis has Federer versus Nadal, the NBA has Lebron versus Kobe and Boxing had Ali versus Frazier. Football’s greatest rivalry has always been Pele versus Maradona, but the two great players sadly were from different eras. By the time Maradona made his debut for Argentina in 1977, Pele had hung up his boots for Brazil some 6 years earlier in 1971. Pele never left Brazil during his prime playing most of his career with his beloved Santos before finishing out his years as a footballer in the United States. Maradona mean while played in Argentina, Italy and Spain winning titles with Barcelona, Napoli and his beloved Boca Juniors. Now for the first time for a long time there is a feeling that we could be seeing two of the greatest players of this generation, if not perhaps of all time, going head to head in the same league leading their teams in the kind of rivalry that has never been seen before in international football. It is amazing how two players that are so similar are also so different. A quick description to exemplify my point, a right-sided attacking midfielder, blessed with mesmerizing footwork, blistering pace, a quick mind and an eye for goal. He is hailed as the best player of this generation and without a doubt a proven winner having won League and Champions League titles. He has won 3 league titles and 1 major domestic cup competition and has scored in 1 Champions League final that his team has won, while finishing Runner-up in his Confederation’s Football Championship. This player has many years left in his career and has yet to hit his peak years. Anybody reading that last paragraph could easily assume I was describing either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and they would be right. The similarities end above though as the two players could not be more different. Messi versus Ronaldo is the story of the proud Galactico versus the humble, almost unwilling, superstar. The story of the tall bronzed muscular man versus the short pale guy who needed growth hormone just to be average height. The story of the man who is linked with many different models and superstars every day versus the man who is set to marry a girl he has known since childhood. It is the story of the man who has played for 3 different clubs before his 25th birthday versus the man who has stated he wants to spend his career with only 1 club. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro came into this world on the 5th of February 1985 to Portuguese parents in Madeira Portugal. From an early age his talent was recognized and after playing at youth level with Andorinha and CD Nacional, he got his break with Sporting CP of Portugal who signed him at age of 12. Things seemed to be going well for Ronaldo until at age 15 he was diagnosed with a racing heart that could have ended his football career. He had surgery with a laser to rectify the problem and then proceeded to blow through the Sporting CP youth system. He became the first player to player for Sporting’s U-16, U-17, U-18, B-team and first team all in one season and was reportedly monitored by Liverpool and Arsenal who saw his undeniable talent. Ronaldo’s big break though came when his Sporting CP met Manchester United in a 2003 pre-season friendly. So impressed were the Manchester United players that they encouraged Ferguson to sign the young prodigy. A Young Cristiano Ronaldo at Sporting CP Ronaldo moved to England soon after and he helped Manchester United to the FA Cup in his first year scoring a goal in the final. The feeling at that time was that while he undoubtedly had talent he was a bit of a show pony and did one too many stepovers. Still Ronaldo continued to flourish in the Manchester United system and his reputation continued to grow. At euro 2004 held in Ronaldo’s native Portugal he helped his team to reach the final scoring against Holland in the semi final. The feeling going into the final was that Portugal who had home advantage and having knocked out Spain, the Netherlands and England on penalties, with Ronaldo scoring in the shootout, (it would not be the last time Ronaldo and England would clash) would have too much for the Greeks. Portugal had Ronaldo as well as former world player of the year Luis Figo, Deco and Rui Costa in their ranks but the Greek team had beaten Portugal in the tournament’s opening game and repeated the feat in the final starting the suspicion that “Ronaldo doesn’t show up in the big games”. Ronaldo: Sublime Skill or Show pony? Still Ronaldo continued to grow and enjoy success with Manchester United picking up individual awards for his play and picking up the League cup in 2006. However a talk of Ronaldo being a “teacher’s pet” began to spread and more ugly side began to surface. In May of 2006 sports site Setanta reported that Ronaldo and team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy had an altercation of Ronaldo’s reluctance to pass the ball during which van Nistelrooy reportedly told Ronaldo “Go cry to your daddy” referring to Carlos Queiroz and not Ronaldo’s biological father who had died earlier that season. Van Nisterooy was promptly sent packing from Old Trafford. What came next though would forever change the way Cristiano Ronaldo was viewed in the football world and perhaps the course of the winger’s destiny. The 2006 world cup was a defining moment for Ronaldo, some people are born to play the role of the hero and others are born to play the role of the villain. I wonder sometimes how different things might have been had Ronaldo not winked at the Portuguese bench. Would he have been vilified by the British press, would he have been targeted for a hate campaign? Would he have been as motivated to prove his critics wrong? The defining moment came when Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney appeared to step on Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho. What happened next is up for debate. The English press claimed that Ronaldo had aggressively complained to the referee which influenced the match official to send off Rooney. To make matters worse Ronaldo was caught winking at the Portuguese bench after the red card had been issued and the British press had found a new hate-figure. Did Ronaldo get Rooney sent off? Portugal went on to place 4th in the World Cup but the damage had been done. Ronaldo was booed during Portugal’s semi-final with France and English fans launched a negative e-mail campaign to prevent Ronaldo from being named Best Young Player at the tournament. FIFA in the end named Lukas Podolski as the Best Young Player citing Ronaldo’s behaviour as part of the reason he did not win. Ronaldo seeing what had happened to David Beckham after the 2002 World Cup began to worry about having to return to England. Rumours linking him with a move to Spain with Real Madrid began to surface. Ferguson convinced him to stay however and Ronaldo began to fulfil the potential that had seen Manchester United snap him up in 2003. During the 2006-2007 season he played at a very high level leading to claims that he was the best player in the world. He led Manchester United to the BPL title and to a Champions League semi-final clash with Kaka and AC Milan which was highly touted as the clash of the two best players in the world. However Kaka came out the clear winner scoring 3 goals over the 2 legs outshining Ronaldo who despite netting 1 goal it continued to be painted as does not show up on the big occasions. Rumours linking him with an 80 million euro move to Real Madrid began to surface again however Ronaldo signed a new contract with Manchester United worth a reported 120000 pounds a week. Despite Ronaldo playing very well and at a high level doubts over his ability to perform against the biggest opposition lingered. Since he had been in England he had just scored 2 goals in 24 clashes with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Ronaldo would however answer his critics in devastating fashion the following season. The 2007-2008 season did not start that well for Ronaldo, he received a red card and a 3 match ban for head butting Portsmouth player Richard Hughes. He claimed that he had learnt a great deal and he would not be provoked in the future. Determined to prove he was indeed the best in the world Ronaldo led Manchester United to a famous double of league and Champions league scoring an amazing 42 goals in all competitions. He scored in the league against Liverpool and Arsenal and against Chelsea in the Champions League final.