Messi and Ronaldo, the Best Players in the History of the Sport

	Cristiano Ronaldo Currently 4.03/5 Rating: 4.0/5 (239 votes)	Lionel Messi Currently 3.89/5 Rating: 3.9/5 (201 votes)
Club Team:	Real Madrid	F.C. Barcelona
Number:	7	10
Full name:	Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro	Lionel Andres Messi
National Team:	Portugal	Argentina
Games Appearances:	565 (as of 27 June 2012)	404 (as of 13 May 2012)
Goals Scored:	305 (as of 27 June 2012)	281 (as of 13 May 2012)
Career high:	Won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, and subsequently being named FIFA's World Player of the Year.	Won the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 World Player of the Year awards.
Career low:	Losing to Greece in the final of Euro 2004 on home turf.	Unable to perform to his best in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals with Messi looking on from the bench.
Strengths:	Ronaldo will take on any defender with searing pace, and mesmerising footwork to boot. His ability to beat a player and whip in crosses makes him a feared opponent. The way his free-kicks swerve with pace and power is a great asset to his team.	His ball skills are second to none, his runs from midfield are usually lethal and he is almost impossible to tackle when he gets his head down. His balance when running at speed is incredible.
Weaknesses:	On occasion, he goes to ground far too easily which attracts the ire of supporters and sometimes tries a trick when a simple pass would do.	Too often he searches for a way to finish moves by himself without looking for team-mates in a better position to shoot at goal.
Height:	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Date of birth:	February 5, 1985	24 June 1987
Place of birth:	Funchal, Madeira, Portugal	Rosario Argentina
Trivia:	Cristiano's name Ronaldo came from his father's favourite actor, Ronald Reagan.	His debut with the national team (against Hungary) was a disaster: he entered the game in the 18th minute of the second half, and 47 seconds later was sent off.

Playing Style

Ronaldo is a fast striker who scores with his head and both feet.
Messi has a lower center of gravity than most players, allowing him to change direction quickly and evade tackles. He uses short bursts of acceleration on the field and is predominantly a left-footed player. He plays a free attack and a playmaking role, and is known for his finishing, his pace, dribbling, vision and passing ability.

Goals scored

In his first team, Sporting CP, Ronaldo scored 3 goals. He scored 84 goals during his 6 years at Manchester United, and has scored 112 goals for Real Madrid. He has scored 35 goals for the national Portuguese team.
 Messi scored 5 goals with the Barcelona C team and 6 with the Barcelona B team, before joining the main Barcelona team, where he was made 214 appearances and scored 169 goals. In the Argentinean national team, he has appeared 70 times and scored 26 goals.

Awards

Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or in 2008, the European Golden Shoe in 2008 and 2011, and was named FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, Onze d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008. He was also named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and was awarded the FIFA Puskas Award in 2009.
Messi received the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, and the FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2010 and 2011. He also won the 2010-2011 UEGA Best Player in Europe Award.

An interesting video comparing the stats of Ronaldo vs Messi

Records

Ronaldo holds the record for the most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid, the most goals scored in a season in La Liga, the most goals scored per minute in La Liga, the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season for two consecutive years, the fastest Real Madrid Player to reach 100 league goals, and the first player to ever score against every team in a single season in La Liga.
Messi is the first player to score five goals in one UEFA Champions League match. He is the first player to top-score in four consecutive Champions Leagues. He set the world record for the most goals scored in a season in 2011-12 and set the current goal scoring record in a single La Liga Season, with 50 goals. He is the youngest Argentine to ever play in the FIFA World Cup.

Controversies

Ronaldo sparked controversy by comparing his contract with Manchester United to slavery.
Messi was accused of racism by Royston Drenthe in 2012. Drenthe claims that Messi called him “negro” during play.

Personal Life

Ronaldo became a father on 3rd July 2010 and his son, Cristiano, is in his custody. Since the start of 2010, he has been dating the Russian model Irina Shayk. He visited Indonesia to raise money for reconstruction after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, and he has also donated money to hospitals and to fund treatment for a young boy in Madeira. He
Messi is dating Antonella Roccuzzo. She is expecting their first child in September 2012. Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation in 2007 to support access to education and health care for vulnerable children. He is a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Notable Quotes

By the players

“I don't consider myself as the best player in the world. I'm not obsessed with individual titles. I'm much more interested in being part of a team which wins trophies.” – Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win” – Lionel Messi.

About the players

"I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. He is better than Kaka and better than Messi. He is streets ahead of them all. His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding." - Sir Alex Ferguson, July 2009.
"Messi is my Maradona," - said Maradona himself, as the head coach of the Argentine national team.