For ten years now, the world has witness the rivalry between this two stun studded super stars, as the both have fought relentlessly to win the FIFA best player of the year, with each of them winning 5 times respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo overcame competition from rivals Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. to claim the Best FIFA men’s player of 2017 for the second year running in London, on Monday. It was presented to him by footballing greats Diego Maradona of Argentina and Brazil’s Ronaldo de Lima.
Ronaldo, however, believes his rivalry with Messi has plenty of distance left to run after scooping the Best FIFA Men’s Player award in London.
Including the years when FIFA’s individual award was merged with the Ballon d’Or, Ronaldo and Messi have now been labelled best player’s in the world five times apiece.
The Portugal captain has come out on top in four of the past five years, with Messi in second place on each occasion.
Yet, Messi has been in a rich vein of form for club and country over recent months, firing Barca to the top of La Liga with 11 goals in nine matches and securing Argentina’s place at the 2018 World Cup with a majestic hat-trick against Ecuador.
Considering they’re the all-time leading scorers for their respective clubs and countries and the two leaders in both La Liga and Champions League history, debate over who is superior out of will remain for some time to come.
Speaking to reporters at London Palladium, Ronaldo initially sought to play down the rivalry before apparently laying down a long-term challenge to the 30-year-old Messi, whom he swapped cordial greetings with as they sat alongside each other during the ceremony.
“I don’t compete with Ronaldo,” he said. “He is a player, who is in the same era. He won five times. I won five times too — individual awards for the best in the world. So things are as they are.
“Obviously, I am happy because, as I said before, I am at the best club in the world. I have had the opportunity to demonstrate that I am at a very high level during the last few years. And I am still physically very well.
“So, I am very quiet. I will see what’s going to happen tomorrow, but at the moment I have to enjoy this nice moment of my life because you never know what will happen next.”
But, asked whether Ronaldo versus Messi was over, the 32-year-old added: “It didn’t finish yet… it is just starting.”
