The debate on who is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the history of football between Manchester United’s Christiano Ronaldo and Paris Saint Germain’s Lionel Messi has raged for years now with diverse opinions across the divide, and Ghanaian international Kelvin-Prince Boateng has become the latest personality to deliver his verdict in an attempt to settle the dust.
The debate has gone on from the youthful days of Argentina’s Messi and Portugal’s Ronaldo, and despite the various analysis by the connoisseurs of the game based on history, statistics, influence on and off the field, reputation, fan base among others, there seems to be no absolute conclusion on the matter yet.
In his attempt to settle the debate, Boateng stated that both Ronaldo and Messi are incomparable to any other footballer of our present time, but said Ronaldo controls and dominates the planet earth with his super display in the game of football but Messi is from another planet. Kelvin then recommended that young footballers who intend to be great and exceptional in their career should choose Ronaldo as their perfect mentor.
“For young people who are football players, Ronaldo should be the best in the world,” he said in an interview with SPOX, reported by dailypost.ng.
“He is the best example to look at because he trains to the fullest and has talent. He works like a madman, he is passionate with everything he does and about football.
“He always wants to be the best. He always wants to be first in everything, so, for a player who is just starting, the one to look at should be him because he is perfect.”
The 34-year old Hertha BSC forward however ended his verdict, choosing Argentina and PSG’s Messi as the GOAT, saying, he “transcends this world”. Ronaldo makes all of this happen in this world, but only in this world.
“In what transcends this world, the best is Messi, because he is incredible, he does things that nobody can do. I do not see him in this world. Ronaldo dominates this world and Messi is above everything else”, he stated.
Both Ronaldo and Messi are captains for their respective national teams. Both are the all time top scorers for their national teams, Cristiano Ronaldo has won two international trophies (Euro 2016, UEFA Nations League) with Portugal, while Messi has won one Copa America with Argentina. Ronaldo has won four (4) Champions league titles to Messi’s three (3) On individual score, Messi holds seven (7) Ballon D’ors while Ronaldo follows closely with five (5).
