The Great Debate: Ronaldo Versus Messi

By: Lucas de Lima and Ryan Harris

There are a handful of heated sports debates that will be argued for a long time, Michael Jordan versus LeBron James, Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal, Michael Schumacher versus Lewis Hamilton, among many others.

But one debate rises above all as the most internationally seen and heard.

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi.

With football’s (soccer for us Americans) stronghold on the sports community all across the globe, the two most renowned and popular players of this generation inevitably become the center of attention for head to head debates.

With perspectives from students here at Redwood, the intense debate is viewed in America

But one student, Surman Singh ’23, was born in India, moved to Canada, and is now finishing his high school career here at Redwood.

Singh says, “I am a fan of Ronaldo because of his mentality, he’s never giving up in any situation. He can come back at any time.”

Ronaldo is infamous for his hard-working attitude and his inspirational messages on social media. Ronaldo has been playing top-flight soccer since 2002, where he started for Sporting Lisbon in his home country of Portugal.

Ronaldo then transferred to Manchester United in England in 2003, where he played for 6 seasons before making a world-record transfer move to Real Madrid in Spain for 94 million euros. Ronaldo won 15 trophies with Real Madrid, before another move to Italian giants Juventus in 2018.

After his time in Italy, Ronaldo made a surprising move to rejoin Manchester United after 12 years away. This time was a tumultuous period to say the least, ending with Ronaldo being benched by manager Erik Ten Hag, and Ronaldo openly criticizing the team.

This opened the gates for Ronaldo to move to his current squad, Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo completed the move for 200 million euros per year. This is where Ronaldo currently is situated, but not everybody approves of the shift.

Jeremiah Escobar ’25 is an avid Ronaldo fan and does not agree with his decision to move to Saudi Arabia. “Me personally, I do not think it was a smart move because me I am a Chelsea fan and Chelsea gave him an offer that he should’ve took,” says Escobar. “He could be at Chelsea Football Club still in Europe having a good career.”

When asked about why he is a Ronaldo fan, Escobar says, “

All 3 of our interviewees agreed that Ronaldo should finish his career at Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi on the other hand, has made smarter choices according to his career according to his fans. One of these fans is Andres Gutierrez ’24. Gutierrez played varsity soccer this past year for the Rangers.

“I’m a Messi fan because he is a complete player. He can dribble, he can pass, he can shoot. He can do anything on the field,” says Gutierrez.

Gutierrez thinks Messi is superior to Ronaldo because he has 7 Ballon d’Or (the most valuable player award for soccer players worldwide) trophies to Ronaldo’s 5. Plus he has recently won the FIFA World Cup in 2022, a feat Ronaldo has never completed.

So, the debate rages on. Will there ever be a consensus between passionate soccer fans? Will certain minds ever be changed from their stance? Only time will tell. Until then, Ronaldo believers and Messi supporters will dispute the most heated argument in soccer. Ronaldo versus Messi.

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