For football/soccer fans, predictions for the World Cup

[Napoléon]

I disagree. Messi does score freekicks. His freekicks are a lot more skillful and therefore more impressive than Ronaldo's. Ronaldo relies on brute power for his. Messi scored an amazing freekick this world cup against Nigeria I think. I also remember a very sumptuous freekick in a classico that ended in a high scoring draw.

More skillful? How do you work that one? Just because Ronaldo uses power he's automatically less skillful? I don't see the logic here. Ronaldo is famed for his ability to hit a ball in a certain way. I can't remember anyone talking about how Messi takes a free kick, yet people talk about how Ronaldo hits the ball right on the valve. He was the first person to start doing this and it has been copied by several other footballers. I can also remember a bunch of awesome Ronaldo free kicks. I'm not saying Messi doesn't score free kicks, I'm saying Ronaldo is more effective. He can score from much further out than Messi too. Again, when was the last time Messi scored from 30+ yards.

Ronaldo is faster but negligibly so; Messi ain't no slow coach. His acceleration is better than Ronaldo's by the way which is a more effective tool for leaving men eating dust.

Meh, maybe. Over 100 meters Ronaldo would be winning every time. I'd argue the instances of having to 'leave a man for dust' are far fewer than having to run past someone at full speed.

On your point of Ronaldo being stronger, in what sense do you mean? When I watch soccer it is Messi who is less likely to dive. He's more resilient on his feet. He takes tackles better than Ronaldo.

Ofcourse he's stronger. He's an out and out beast. What sense do I mean? I mean in the sense that he's stronger, he can knock other people off the ball, hold them off more, jump and power into headers. Messi has great balance and a smaller frame, which allows him to skip over tackles and such, but rarely do you see him out strengthening someone who is side by side with him. Also people go on like Messi never dives either, which pisses me off. Like he's some beacon of fair play. He's just as much a cunt at times as what Ronaldo is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6vIBWYy-4Y

A skill that Messi has that's been overlooked here is his remarkable close ball control. It's like the ball is glued to his feet. When it come to attacking, Messi is more likely to retain possession of the ball compared to Ronaldo.

Ronaldo also scores 100 times more headers than Messi ever does. Ronaldo is also capable of smashing the ball from 40 yards into the top corner. I wouldn't underestimate Ronaldo's dribbling either. All in all, Ronaldo is the more complete, well rounded player. Messi is the best dribbler in the world no doubt, but in terms of the best player? The best all round footballer? Ronaldo.

That is highly debatable. Both Messi and Ronaldo are players that command that the tactics of any team have them featuring in the starring role. Now Messi is a one club player. Why should that be a point lost on his part? To assert/imply that Messi can't score as prolifically in another team is a bit of an argument from ignorance.

It's not really. It's pretty obvious he wouldn't score as many in another team. He wouldn't have Xavi and Iniesta providing him assist after assist. I think anyone with a half decent footballing brain would accept that Messi, anywhere other than Barca, wouldn't score the amount or kinds of goals he currently does. It's not an argument from ignorance, because you can see the kind of attributes he has and how much he relies on his team mates. Ronaldo doesn't rely on anyone but himself. Ronaldo has proven himself in another (much more physically demanding might I add) league. That's not necessarily a -1 for Messi, but it is a definite +1 for Ronaldo.


A lot of this is preference though. Stats wise you could make arguments for either player. But I think it's undeniable that Ronaldo's all round game makes him the more complete player. I'd say he's the better player because of that.