PETER Stop Ronaldo v Messi argument ...they’re BOTH the greatest!
WHEN you have a long career in football, there will be games that you need reminding that you played in. Days that were unremarkable and uneventful quickly slip out of mind.
But there will always be matches that stay with you for ever, no matter how long ago they were, days when you remember every little detail. They tend to be when you achieved something significant or saw something out of the ordinary. One little trigger will take you right back.
That is what happened on Tuesday. Watching Real Madrid against Juventus, I started thinking about an England Under 21 game in which I was involved, away to Portugal, in March 2003. That was the night Cristiano Ronaldo opened my eyes to a different way of playing football.
We had a decent team then — Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe all started — but we knew we were coming up against a special player. The talk before the game, though, was not about Ronaldo. We were more worried about Ricardo Quaresma. Nobody had heard of Ronaldo.
Quaresma did not disappoint. He was magnificent and kept hitting these 50-yard balls across the field, but Ronaldo was ridiculous. He was so good. He would control those sweeping passes from Quaresma on the opposite flank — with his back! — before setting off towards goal at unbelievable speed.
You could only feel for Jlloyd Samuel and Paul Konchesky, who were our full backs. They were run ragged and by the end, we lost 4-2 and Ronaldo scored.
So when he arrived in the Premier League later that year, I knew from that night what to expect from Ronaldo, with all the tricks and flicks. But I will be honest, I never anticipated that he would become arguably the greatest centre forward we have ever seen and one of the two best players to ever live.
Now, admittedly, there is an area of his game that still must be improved.
Only a select few of us have successfully executed a bicycle kick in the Champions League and while his goal against Juventus was good, I am happy to impart my wisdom if he wants his next attempt to be better!
Seriously, we are privileged to be watching a football phenomenon and I think the reaction of the Juventus supporters, who rose to their feet to recognise that unbelievable strike, was a measure of what he has achieved.
The only time I’ve ever seen a stadium give a standing ovation to a visiting player before was when the Brazilian Ronaldo scored a hat-trick for Real Madrid at Old Trafford in 2003.
It was a class gesture by the Juve faithful last week but totally deserved because the Portuguese is on another level.
The numbers and his ruthlessness set him apart. Every week, every big game, you know he is going to produce and the goals keep coming. Ronaldo is absolutely single-minded and I saw at first hand how he will let nothing get in the way of him winning.
During the 2006 World Cup quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen, we couldn’t believe the brutal way he got Wayne Rooney sent off. It did not matter one little bit that they played together for Manchester United, Ronaldo (below) was intent on getting Wayne a red card but that was a glimpse into his world.
He will not entertain the idea of losing and I am convinced that what Lionel Messi does for Barcelona drives on Ronaldo. How many times have you seen Messi score a hat-trick one night and then Ronaldo do the same 24 hours later? It can’t be a coincidence.
I never got to see Diego Maradona play, other than on TV. I have seen only clips of Johan Cruyff and Pele and read about the feats of Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas, but I honestly believe Ronaldo and Messi are the two greatest players who have ever breathed.
A few weeks ago, I referred to the fact that I will enjoy telling my grandchildren one day that I shared a pitch with Messi — it was during a Champions League game for Liverpool in 2007 — but I will say the same about Ronaldo.
People love discussing which one of the two is the best and it is certainly interesting. I have always been in Messi’s camp, as I feel his talents are God-given and natural, while Ronaldo has worked relentlessly to make himself invincible with that incredible physical strength.
Really, though, the argument about who is better should stop. We do not know how much longer we are going to see them and we should just enjoy what they are doing without trying to make one of them second best.
These players have provided countless memories for countless people, whether it was with a trick or a flick in a little game or a goal to win a trophy. Do not separate them. Savour them.