Al-Saadi 1

Hamdan Al-Saadi
Professor Jackie
Eng113A
11/14/2015
The Best Soccer Player
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two common names in soccer world.
Cristiano Ronaldo was born in 1985 where Lionel Messi was born in 1987. Cristiano
Ronaldo (soccer player from Portugal) is playing for Real Madrid club, where Lionel
Messi (soccer player from Argentina) is playing for FC Barcelona. These two stars are the
best in the world, and they make the other players looks weak in front of them. Both of
the players are doing their best to win trophies, and the best trophy is the Ballon Dor.
Every year at January there is a player who wins it. Winning the Ballon Dor trophy
would make the player the best player in the world for the year. When Real Madrid and
FC Barcelona face each other most of the soccer fans they look at it as if Cristiano
Ronaldo is facing Lionel Messi, and they forgot the other twenty players who are playing
on the field. Although Lionel Messi won four Ballon DOr trophies and still breaking
some records, but Cristiano Ronaldo is better because he is breaking more records and
won the Ballon DOr title three times.
Most of the soccer fans, and players always compares between Cristiano Ronaldo
and Lionel Messi. The legend of Brazil Pele stated, "They are two great players, but in
the past 10 years the best in the world was Messi" (para.2) and on 2014 Pele stated,
Cristiano Ronaldo was better because Lionel Messi was struggling with injury (para.3).
A lot of soccer people know that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the best in the

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world, but every year one of them beats the other. Angel DI Maria (soccer player from
Argentina) said that the Fifa needs two make a trophy for the best player in the world
with out Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi because in the last eight years only they
were the only players who won the Ballon DOr and by this way its impossible for other
players to win the trophy until they retire. Caley was comparing between Cristiano
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi regarding to the shots and the goals that they score.
There are a lot of ways to compare between players, but some of the ways of
comparing are not useful. Michael Caley argues, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 12
non-penalty goals on 53 shots, and I estimate the expected-goals value of those shots at
about 6.1. Lionel Messi has scored seven goals on 46 shots, with an expected-goals value
of about 6.9. (para.4) What Caley said shows that Lionel Messi beats Cristiano Ronaldo
regarding to the number of shots and goals. Caley didnt count the number of goals that
Cristiano Ronaldo scored from penalty. Actually Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals
from penalty at that season, which means that Cristiano Ronaldo scored 17 goals on 60
shots, which means the expected- goals value of Cristiano Ronaldo shots, will raise.
Caley needs to calculate the penalties because its part of the game, and scoring a penalty
needs a lot of focus because Cristiano Ronaldo is facing the best soccer goalkeepers and
the best defenders in champions (Champions league is the strongest competition between
the soccer clubs in the world). Caley didnt write that Cristiano Ronaldo scored 17 goals
in 10 matches and he broke a record to be the player who scored the most number of
goals in the first 10 matches in champion league. If anyone is trying to compare between
a two players he needs to compare between the records that the two players break.

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Comparing between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is difficult because they
broke a lot of records and they are still breaking records. Lionel Messi won the Ballon
DOr four times where Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon DOr three times, and that
makes Lionel Messi the most player who wins the trophy in the history of soccer.
Cristiano won the European golden shoe three times where Lionel Messi won it two
times, and that makes Cristiano Ronaldo the most player who win the trophy in the
history of soccer. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 28 hat tricks in La league in six years where
Lionel Messi scored 24 hat tricks in ten years but still there are two players who scored
more hat tricks than them (any player who score three goals in one match its called a hat
trick). Lionel Messi scored the most goals in La league history because he was playing in
La League from 2005 when he was 18 years old, where Cristiano Ronaldo played for
three leagues in his career, Europa League with sporting Lisbon, premier league with
Manchester united, and La League with Real Madrid, which means that Cristiano
Ronaldo played for seven years out of the La League, where Lionel Messi was playing in
the La League since he was 18 (the league depends in which country is the club in ex.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are in Spain, so they play in La league). Comparing
between two players regarding to the records they broke is a useful way, but there are
different ways that are useful.
The physical strength, abilities to score, abilities to evasive players, skills, speed,
and height are important for the player. Pele stated, Cristiano Ronaldo was better
because Lionel Messi was struggling with injury (para.3). Physical strength is one of the
most important things that the soccer players need because the soccer field is big, which
make the players feel tired faster than the playing in small fields, and this may cause

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many injuries because the players will make an effort and their muscle will strain if the
player is not strong enough. Cristiano Ronaldo is the top fittest soccer player in the
world, which makes him stronger than Lionel Messi. Real Madrid club medical staff
expects that Cristiano Ronaldo can play soccer till the age of 37, which means that he can
play till 2022. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi got the ability to score; they are
the best two players in the world because they are able to score a goal even if they are
facing the best defenders in the world. The ability to evasive players depends on skills
and the speed of the player. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are able to pass any
player because they got the skill and the speed. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are
from the fastest five players in soccer, but Lionel Messi is able to pass the player easier
than Cristiano Ronaldo because he is shorter. The height and the strength of the leg make
the player better in the high balls. Cristiano Ronaldo is taller than Lionel Messi, and he
got legs that are stronger than Lionel Messi, and that makes him better than Lionel Messi
in high balls. Most of the soccer fans believe that Cristiano Ronaldo can jump high as
basketball players especially when they saw goal that he scored against Manchester
united by his head when he jumped more than 2.6 meters high. Some newspaper wrote
that Cristiano Ronaldo is able jump higher than the average jump of the players in the
NBA because of his strong legs.
Comparing between two soccer stars is difficult, especially if these players are
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Some people believe that Cristiano Ronaldo is not
better than Lionel Messi because he scores from penalties and they didnt count the goals
that he scores from penalties, and they forgot that the penalty is part of the game. There
are some fans thinks that Lionel Messi is the best, because he is the most player won

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scored in La league, and they forgot that Cristiano was playing in a different league for
seven years and if he didnt it will be difficult for Lionel Messi to break that record.
Crostino Ronaldo beats Lionel Messi in the number of hat tricks in La League. Cristiano
Ronaldo is the top fittest soccer player in the world, he can play till 2020, got a strong leg
which can make him jump high as the NBA basketball players, and he is better than
Lionel Messi in high balls, all these facts make Cristiano Ronaldo a better player than
Lionel Messi.

Work sited:
Boren, Cindy. "Lionel Messi Vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: Pele Takes a Side."
Washington Post Blogs, 22 March 2015

Caley, Michael. "Despite Great Season, Cristiano Ronaldo is Not Better Than
Lionel Messi." Washington Post Blogs, 7 November 2014