Football is the leading sports across the globe with billions of fans usually following it both at the club level and country level. By football, obviously we are not not about the American football here but what is popular called soccer.
While other sports also have iconic figures that have graced the games ever since their inception, soccer is by far the game with the highest respect and number of icons to have ever played it.
Such people are usually rewarded with different individual awards such as Ballon d'Or, FIFA The Best, UEFA Player of the Year and many others. Recently there have been huge debates over the best player to have every graced soccer.
Decades ago, this iconic title known as GOAT or Greatest of All Time was believed to be between two of the best players of the last centuries, the Argentine Maradona and the Brazilian icon, Pele.
Today, new generation players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi* have pushed the boundaries set by the former two, thereby establishing themselves as the best two to have ever played football.
With their unbeaten fan base and loads of individual titles and team trophies in their closet, there is always a fierce debate and argument over who is better between the two. This has made many football pundits to settle with the two being called GOATs of soccer.
While the names Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Brazilians Ronaldinho and Kaka, and others that have claimed their portion of the individual awards in the game of soccer do not bring extra debate, the name Ronaldo usually raise another fierce question as to which of the two is the real Ronaldo.
Nazarius De Lima Ronaldo R9
Ronaldo established himself as one of the best ever players in soccer, with his ruthless striking ability towards the end of 20th century and early 21st century.
He scores hundreds of career goals for club and country, winning 2 Ballons d'Or and 3 FIFA The Best. As well, there are loads of team medals in his closet one of which is the FIFA World Cup trophy.
In the early 21st century, the title "Real Ronaldo" came up and was used to differentiate De Lima from the new rising star, Cristiano who was seen as being way too far from being called Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo CR7
Is there is any footballer that no one comes close to when it comes to brand and taking his game serious with absolute devotion and dedication, there is no need of an argument, it is CR7.
Cristiano came from nowhere, from being an unknown young lad roaming about in the streets of Lisbon, Portugal to become arguably the GOAT of soccer.
He went on to show his class and talent in three major football leagues; EPL, La Liga and Serie A parking up ranges of individual and collective trophies in the process.
CR7 has 5 Ballons d'Or, 5 FIFA The Best, 3 European Golden Boots, 5 UCL, 2 EPL, 3 La Liga, 1 Serie A alongside various others to his name. As at the time of writing this, CR7 has scored 699 career goals; more goals, more hatrick, more brace, more direct free kick, more penalties, more club goals, more country goals, more headers and more volley goals than any other player.
In terms of individual and collective efforts, no one comes near CR7. His closest rival being Lionel Messi. In terms of brand and social media presence, no one comes near him. Hence, CR7 has become a brand, not just a footballer name.
In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo has become the original Ronaldo of soccer, overtaking his predecessor to become the Greatest (player) Of All Time
Curated on SportsTalkSocial!
Keep up the good work! 🏂
⚽ DFacademy Team 🎯
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wow, who would suspect this in 1998 :-D so maybe in 30 years, there will be "the real" Messi and "the real" Maradona". Heh :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit