The Messi vs Ronaldo rivalry will go down as one of the biggest of its kind in the history of the sport. What makes it so special, is that their rivalry seems eternal and at no point will a football fan back one of them with full conviction. This season presents another such conundrum. Messi had a terrific domestic season in which he bagged the European Golden Shoe and won the La Liga.
However, as the World Cup dawned upon us, both men were tasked with leading seemingly inept national squads. Ronaldo, was never going to be one to sit quietly and he has absolutely lit up this WC. Now, with misery piling onto Messi after Argentina’s shocking 0-3 defeat to Croatia on Thursday, the debate for the GOAT seems to have shifted towards the latter.
Messi’s Misery
Lionel Messi has always been chided for below par performances on the international arena, and his performance against Croatia last night would have done no good to his cause. One could argue that Messi was let down by his teammates and his manager’s team selection, but despite that caveat, his stats from the Croatia game were truly shocking.
Ronaldo’s Magic
Contrary to Messi’s fortunes at the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo has been on fire. He leads the race for the Golden Boot having scored all 4 of Portugal’s goal so far. And in doing so, he has broken numerous goal scoring records.