Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: you can't have a debate about their greatness without comparing them to each other. Much like the Joker and Batman, polar opposites who are defined in each other's image, we've come to assess Messi and Ronaldo against each other, not in a vacuum but as a tandem. It's the privilege and curse that comes with being the two best players on the planet right now.
We were reminded of this dynamic at the start of Euro 2016, when Iceland defender Kari Arnason pointedly cited Messi in order to get further under Ronaldo's skin, after the Portuguese's uncharitable comments about the Icelandic team.
A week of debate about Ronaldo followed -- should we feel sorry for the aging superstar? Could he carry Portugal into the knockout rounds? -- until his two goals against Hungary helped silence his critics, at least for a time. Days later Messi missed a penalty shootout in the Copa America final against Chile, a failure that fueled even more debate about his legacy that now includes three consecutive lost finals with Argentina. Then Messi announced that he'd no longer play for the national side.
Naturally, this spawns further debate about how Ronaldo and Messi stack up. They've both put up ridiculous numbers at club level, but at the international level things are a bit more complicated.
So, how do these two greats actually compare in the international arena?
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon