The heated debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

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The Portuguese invited the Argentine to leave Barcelona and seek "new challenges". Messi replied saying that the Catalan club always has "new objectives"

At the beginning of last December, Cristiano Ronaldo proposed a curious challenge to Lionel Messi. "I would like him to come to Italy one day. Like me, accept the challenge, " said the Portuguese in an interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

Leer en español: El polémico debate entre CR7 y Lionel Messi

Now, the proposal is not only that but also a small lunge from the former Real Madrid player to the Argentine, who reminded him that he does not miss him, because, "I played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, I won with my team, while he is still in Spain, " said Ronaldo.

For his part, as he rarely does, Messi decided to respond to his former league partner, thanking him for his invitation. "I am in the best club in the world and my challenges are renewed year after year. I do not need to change. I do not need to change teams or league to set new goals. I am in my house, in the best club in the world and I do not need to change ", was Messi's answer. The Argentinean has played all his career at  FC Barcelona in Spain.

Going or staying?

This anecdote is part of the endless media 'war' between Ronaldo and Messi, which uses the number of clubs in which each has played as an argument by many fans trying to satisfy their need to triumph and declare that their idol is the best in the world.

"Cristiano has been a determining factor in Sporting (Portugal), Manchester United (England), Real Madrid (Spain), and probably it will be in Juventus (Italy)", is one of the most read comments on social networks, in favor of Portuguese. "That fact places him, not only as the best of a league but as the best in Europe and the world," they detail.

On the other side of the scale are the "messianic", who declares that "'Lio' is not only a better player than Cristiano but also has something that the Portuguese do not: "Loyalty". " Messi plays because he loves the club and his t-shirt, not for the money ", is one of the phrases that Messi's fans used to show how superior is Messi when talking about soccer and humility.
 

Which one is better: building a career in several clubs or dedicate a lifetime to just one?

Of course, this question has no solution, or at least not just one. It is one of the most subjective issues in football because they play variables such as money, opportunities, and emotions. They are precisely the last ones that give the enormous touch of subjectivity to this topic.

Now, for no one is it a secret that some of the greatest players in history have achieved success in the midst of different "worlds". For example, Maradona started in Argentinos Juniors, consolidated in Boca, had a bitter step for Barcelona and exploded as a legend in Naples, all without forgetting his amazing performance with the Argentine team. For many, he is the best player in history, not only because of his incredible talent but also because of the footprint he left in each of the countries he passed through.

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As 'El Diego', there are many more examples: Zinedine Zidane (France, Italy and Spain), Ronaldinho (Brazil, France, Spain, Italy); Ronaldo Nazario (Brazil, Holland, Spain, and Italy), among others. Great stars that were created as an amalgam of different schools and styles, typical of each country in which they played. The titles, records and memories of them are proof of this.

Nonetheless, we must not leave behind those players who decide to mix between football and feelings. For several experts, a dangerous mix in a profession as competitive as this sport is. Over the years, soccer evolves every day more in a show that needs controversy and marketing so that it can work; something that soccer players who live for a single club do not always generate.

However, this controversy has reached this race in extinction, with Messi as a scapegoat. During history, there have been cases of cracks that decided to give their lives to the benefit and growth of a single team. Among the most important are Lev Yashin, at FC Dinamo Moscow; Paolo Maldini, in Milan; Carles Puyol, in Barcelona; Ryan Giggs, at Manchester United; and, recently, Francesco Totti, in Rome. Legends that today are also victims of widespread criticism of 'La Pulga' and its presumed cowardice for not leaving Barcelona.

With this, I do not pretend to give glory to some and to demerit others; all the named cracks are great names and men of soccer history; some wanderers and others sedentary. However, it is the personal race that must speak for each of them, not a publicity and media fight between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Just as the Portuguese is a genius in the history of several clubs, the Argentine is a legend in the heart of one, and neither one nor the other avoid saying that both are part of the Olympus of football.

LatinAmerican Post | Christopher Ramírez Hernández

Translated from: 'El polémico debate entre CR7 y Lionel Messi'