Highlights:
- Gary Neville details the reason in the roaring question of Ronaldo or Messi, the GOAT?
- Neville sided the Man Utd star over Messi for the following reasons
- Fellow football pundit Jamie Carragher disagreed with Gary Neville
Former Red Devils Right Back Gary Neville was quick to hail his former teammate as the finest to ever play the game, even though his fellow football pundit Jamie Carragher disagreed with him.
The 36 year old Cristiano Ronaldo is “the greatest player of all time” according to the former Manchester United stalwart Gary Neville, with the ex-Right Back giving his former Old Trafford colleague the edge over the Argentine rival Lionel Messi.
The Portuguese cemented his dream homecoming to the Theatre of Dreams this weekend with a brace on his second debut for the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in a 4-1 Premier League win over Newcastle United FC.
The former Red Devils defender Neville has hailed his former teammate as the finest to ever play the game of football and has pointed to his superior flexibility as a goalscorer as the crucial edge he possesses over Paris Saint-Germain attacker Messi.
Neville said, “Look, there’s no doubt that Messi’s scored an obscene amount of goals,” on Sky Sports ahead of Everton and Burnley’s Premier League game on Monday.
He added, “He’s a ridiculous player.
“(However) Ronaldo’s scored probably 30 or 40 per cent more with his wrong foot and he’s scored more penalties. So it just took me to a point where he was more complete in terms of the most important part of the game.
“The thing that tips it over the edge even more is that international record, of the most international goals ever. The fact that he’s won five Champions Leagues with teams that aren’t even as good as Messi’s team”.
He said, “Messi’s won more league titles with that Barcelona team, but I just feel that the international goal record and the Champions Leagues, aligned with the variety of goals that he scores, even though they’re very similar (in overall numbers), takes me to think that he is the greatest player of all time.”.
"This is a penalty box football player." @GNev2 looks at how Cristiano Ronaldo's game has changed over the years…?#MNF | #MUFC pic.twitter.com/pkRBYgvy7s
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 13, 2021
"If he's the guy who brings the title back after 10 years, that elevates him to number one."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 13, 2021
Will Cristiano Ronaldo be remembered as #MUFC's greatest ever player?#MNF pic.twitter.com/JOYZaYPWK4
Messi v Ronaldo debate continues… ?️@GNev2 and @Carra23 look at the #FIFA ratings for the two stars… pic.twitter.com/2vz0LrfQhT
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 13, 2021
Fellow football pundit Jamie Carragher was quick to shoot down Neville’s suggestion, however, with the former Liverpool man stating that he could not look past Messi, owing to the Argentine’s skilled game management.
The Reds legend stated, “No one’s not a huge fan of Ronaldo or Messi, [but] Ronaldo’s not the greatest player of all-time,” and added, “I’m going to say that it’s his mate here.
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“You’re talking about the difference of type of goals. It doesn’t matter how the ball goes in the net. Messi’s got a better goal record than Ronaldo. Messi can also run a game; Ronaldo cannot do that.
“Messi as a player can take you to a place where you can’t actually believe what you’re seeing. What Ronaldo does is things that other players can do. Messi can do things that you’ve never seen before.” However, a huge blunder was made on the stats sheet which omitted the International trophy count away from Lionel Messi. They forgot Messi won the Copa America with Argentina in 2021. Taking a dig, the former English footballer, Gary Lineker wrote, “To be fair, it’s such a long time since Messi led Argentina to victory in Copa America, they’re entitled to forget it.”
To be fair, it’s such a long time since Messi led Argentina to victory in Copa America, they’re entitled to forget it. ? pic.twitter.com/zh9TysLsnE
— Gary Lineker ? (@GaryLineker) September 13, 2021
However, if we keep this silly mistake aside, Ronaldo, with his performances, is making even the most loyal Messi fans choose him as the real GOAT and one such fan is the former English footballer Peter Crouch.
Peter Crouch is one of those who has all of sudden had to reconsider his loyalties, writing in his Daily Mail column he said, he may have to consider switching sides.
Crouch wrote, “I have always been a Lionel Messi man. A gift from God. The poise, elegance and everything that goes with his genius is spellbinding.
“But we have reached the stage now where every single record is being broken by the other man in the conversation.
“A change of heart, a switch of sides, could potentially be on its way. Are you even allowed to cross that divide? What are the repercussions?”
It seems like Ronaldo has started to sway even the most staunch supporters of Lionel Messi.
For the second goal against Newcastle United, Ronaldo hit a top speed of 20.2 miles per hour that’s 32.5 km per hour. Let that sink in.