Why did God create Messi and Ronaldo?

[PenguinPablo]

These are inarguably the two greatest footballers of our generation.

They've been compared to each other their entire careers.

But these two players couldn't be any more different. 

Messi is considered the better of two though by many.

In spite of this, Cristiano Ronaldo appeals to people for a totally different reason.

Messi is the ideal. Zero imperfections. Naturally perfect. No flaws. The best player God could create. He's a human cheat code as far as soccer goals. For a mere mortal, it is simply unfair. 

No matter how hard he works, Ronaldo cannot match the natural, seemingly effortless perfection that is Messi.  Messi is the manifestation of the ideal in human form. 

Ronaldo must sacrifice absolutely everything and even then he is always a step behind Messi / perfection / the ideal. The ideal does not have to work so hard, it is already perfect.

However, people know in their hearts the ideal is unreachable.

Ronaldo represents actualizing your full potential. It's not perfect. But it is near-perfect. it's beautiful in its own way  because of the commitment and journey to get there.

If you're lucky, some sort of genetic freak like Messi 1 in a million chance with the stars aligning perfectly... then maybe

but for the rest of us, we represent Ronaldo. Not perfect but taking yourself and developing yourself as much as humanely possible, given your limitations.

You'll never be perfect, but you can create something truly magnificent and beautiful.

to sum it up... Messi represents something you cannot become no matter how hard you tried. he represents perfection. while Ronaldo represents what you could become if you actualized your full potential.

Ronaldo gives the avg person hope and reminds them of what they could become if they actualized themselves fully. he is a symbol of hope. -- this is why he is so beloved.

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by PenguinPablo

[Breakingthewall]

yeah, ronaldo is the will, the strength. messi the talent. similar to nadal vs federer. In the end the will wins. The unwavering tenacity that never ceases creates the purest diamond, since the talent created by work and erosion is joined by absolute faith in oneself, in the ability to bend reality with will.

[omar30]

@Breakingthewall

What do you mean by the will wins? have you seen Ronaldo recently he is on the bench.

 

@PenguinPablo

6 hours ago, PenguinPablo said:

Ronaldo gives the avg person hope

 

6 hours ago, PenguinPablo said:

he is a symbol of hope.

I don't think so he is too arrogant to be a symbol also he makes a lot of bad decisions.

Players get wiser and more mature after their peak ends except for him. He has a big ego.

[BipolarGrowth]

Idk, I’d say Brady is a far better footballer. 

[Consept]

I actually think both players pushed each other and made each other great, you dont usually get two greats that play in similar positions and are close to the same age. Usually you get one player that is considered the best player in the world or maybe a few players around the same level, but ive never seen two players that could be considered the greatest ever at one time like this. If one of them wasnt around I dont think they would have pushed to the heights they did. You need that arch-rival who is on the same level as you to compete with. Boxers for example, are only really judged on how good their opponents were. 

Also i think the natural talent of Messi compared to Ronaldo and the work ethic of Ronaldo compared to Messi is probably overstated. Ronaldo even at 17 was not an average player, he was bought by Man United at that age when Man United were one of the best teams in the world and was given the prestigious number 7 shirt, meaning they thought he would be the next big thing. So obviously he had a lot of talent, not as much as Messi but a lot, of course his work ethic and mentality took him to another level, but he was one of the most talented players in the world at 17. On the other side Messi has incredible talent but his work ethic and mentality is also an extremely important factor in his success. There have been plenty of naturally talented players who have gone nowhere, so that is what makes him great its the combination of talent, work ethic and mentality. 

That said im grateful to have been around whilst these guys were playing, im not sure youll get talents like this coming up at the same time for a long while. 

[PenguinPablo]

@Consept I regret not taking the time to watch them all these years. Maybe a game here and there, or during world cups. 

[Consept]

10 minutes ago, PenguinPablo said:

@Consept I regret not taking the time to watch them all these years. Maybe a game here and there, or during world cups. 

I was lucky in that im a Man United fan so i saw a lot of Ronaldo when he was playing there. Didnt see as much of Messi but the El Classico games when Ronaldo was at Madrid and Messi at Barca were some of the best games Ive ever seen, so if you have to pick a few games to watch id definitely start there!

[Dazgwny]

Try telling Leo Messi that he didn’t have to work to achieve what he has in the game. These are ludicrous statements and full of disrespect to the man himself at how hard he’s worked at what he has achieved. Both players have worked their balls off to get to where they are and likely neither one any more than the other. Leo was not genetically gifted to become the great of the game that he became either. You’ll find he was given hormone treatment at Barcelona as a teenager to grow him as he was classified a dwarf. Clinical dwarfism. This does not represent being given God given gifts to begin with. Those around him worked their balls off to help him in his endeavour to become what he has, as he himself worked to master his chosen trade. Granted he has natural attributes that have enabled him to reach his potential, but only by working as hard, if not even harder, than everyone else in the game

[PenguinPablo]

4 minutes ago, Dazgwny said:

Try telling Leo Messi that he didn’t have to work to achieve what he has in the game. These are ludicrous statements and full of disrespect to the man himself at how hard he’s worked at what he has achieved. Both players have worked their balls off to get to where they are and likely neither one any more than the other. Leo was not genetically gifted to become the great of the game that he became either. You’ll find he was given hormone treatment at Barcelona as a teenager to grow him as he was classified a dwarf. Clinical dwarfism. This does not represent being given God given gifts to begin with. Those around him worked their balls off to help him in his endeavour to become what he has, as he himself worked to master his chosen trade. Granted he has natural attributes that have enabled him to reach his potential, but only by working as hard, if not even harder, than everyone else in the game

That makes the story even spicier ?

He's probably an autistic savant, and also a dwarf. 

What an anomaly 

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by PenguinPablo

[aurum]

@PenguinPablo

If everyone was Messi, being Messi doesn’t mean anything. Messi needs the contrast of not-Messi.

[PenguinPablo]

@aurum exactly ?

[Ulax]

I like to say Messi is art, Ronaldo is science

[Jannes]

I was never into football. How can you say these two players are so much better then the rest? I understand that in 1v1 sports like boxing you can say that someone is the best if he has a great winning streak but in a team sport like football how can you reduce an archievement of a player to the player itself? It’s much more about the intelligence of the team dynamic and the template of other players rather then the finishing blow at the end. Nobody has a list of his top five defending football players, it’s always the top striker everybody has in mind. 

[SeaMonster]

(I'm talking about them at their peak.)

Messi is the greatest dribbler and accuracy shooter I've ever seen.  Ronaldo is the greatest combination of power and accuracy I've ever seen, and is more athletic than Messi (crazy vertical and header ability.)

There is a reason there is a debate about who's the greatest.  The two were not that far apart, no matter who you think is better.

4 hours ago, Jannes said:

I was never into football. How can you say these two players are so much better then the rest? I understand that in 1v1 sports like boxing you can say that someone is the best if he has a great winning streak but in a team sport like football how can you reduce an archievement of a player to the player itself? It’s much more about the intelligence of the team dynamic and the template of other players rather then the finishing blow at the end.

There is a bias towards forwards in football because they're typically the guys that score/assist most, they're the stars and the others are more of a supporting cast.  It would be more accurate to say those are two of the best forwards of all time, so you have a point.

[Giulio Bevilacqua]

I do not undestrand why people always try to compare them and see who is better. 

They are just different with different qualities. 

An orange is not better than an apple 

[Consept]

11 hours ago, Jannes said:

I was never into football. How can you say these two players are so much better then the rest? I understand that in 1v1 sports like boxing you can say that someone is the best if he has a great winning streak but in a team sport like football how can you reduce an archievement of a player to the player itself? It’s much more about the intelligence of the team dynamic and the template of other players rather then the finishing blow at the end. Nobody has a list of his top five defending football players, it’s always the top striker everybody has in mind. 

I get your point but I think you can judge it on a players impact on the game. In basketball for example you can clearly see players like Jordan, LeBron and Kobe are great players because they've won so many titles but also been the main player on those teams in terms of effect they have. 

With football it can be trickier because there are 11 players so you won't touch the ball as much and obviously you don't have as many chances to score. But if you look at Messi and Ronaldos impact on the team it is incredible, on average for the last 10 or so seasons despite what team they play for they score around 1 goal a game and I'm talking over about 800+ games. This is literally unheard of in football, especially to do it so consistently. If a player scored once every 2 games they would be considered a great striker, the numbers these guys put in is ridiculous. 

Also in terms of dribbling and effectiveness of it, I don't think I've seen anyone better than Messi, he has several goals from earlier in his career, where he literally dribbles past the whole team and scores. 

I will say that the teams Messi and Ronaldo played in definitely improved them and took them to the next level, but these guys will go down as goats in my opinion, probably Messi will edge it, especially as Ronaldo has declined towards the end now. 

[Consept]

Messi playing as a child, incredible