The fight between fanclubs of the two biggest football rivals just got a new ball of fire in their gas tank. Apparently, the former Barcelona player Gerard Pique made a statement saying that he always liked Cristiano Ronaldo better than Lionel Messi. 

The former centre-back has done a number of accomplishments himself as he had a long and wonderful football career, retiring at the age of 35-years-old. The handsome Spaniard represented his home country 102 times since he joined in 2009. 

Furthermore, he played an important part in winning for Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He joined Manchester United in 2004, which is where Cristiano Ronaldo is currently at but since he joined them at a young age, there were no purchase fees. 

Gerard Pique’s alleged statement was, “Now that I’m no longer at Barcelona I can easily say Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player ever. He’s always been better than Messi.”  

Fan viewpoints about Pique’s “statement” 

On a Facebook fan page, the statement was uploaded garnering thousands of engagements from fans. He got some backlash there as fans stated “I think you need to see a doctor” and provided the facts which were, Messi has 41 trophies, 7 ballon d’ors and 6 golden boots.

Messi is no mean feat when compared to Ronaldo, and others were saying that Pique has no right to judge the Argentinian. Others who dislike Ronaldo went on a rampage bashing both the Portuguese and the Spaniard. 

Fans were also claiming that the post was “fake news” and that Pique did not actually say that. However, he has played with both players in his entire career, firstly during his time at Manchester United with Ronaldo and next in Barcelona with Messi. 

https://twitter.com/utdreprot/status/1589142465923420161?s=20&t=UycxJBDTuXiWvIx5MkhJMg

On Twitter, the bashing of Ronaldo proceeded. Messi fans were “triggered” , a term that the Gen-Zs frequently use. They claim that Ronald fans would always make fake quotes from prominent figures to prove that Ronaldo is the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T). 

Cry pessidogs pic.twitter.com/nkSJTkzOls

— h (@Crfx1d) November 6, 2022

A new term has been coined for Ronaldo fans which are “penaldogs.” It seems a little disrespectful to the award winning Portuguese player. 

It appears that the statement is a hoax, and currently there are no verifiable news sources that are talking about this. However, there are news reports of Pique talking about both players in an equal light. 

Pique’s actual statement

According to GiveMeSports, Pique did make a statement about both legends, and he was still skewed towards Ronaldo. 

“I think that they are both amazing,” Pique stated. “We are talking about two of the best players, not just in the world but the history of this sport.” 

“I always said that Messi has some talent that no one else has. I mean, he has the ball and his speed controlling the ball. The ball doesn’t go two metres far from his foot, it’s always there. It’s impossible to catch him, this talent I didn’t see from anyone.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is such a different player, they are very different. He is tall, strong, and he’s really complete. He can do anything. He can score goals with the head, free-kicks, penalties, and take one on one.

“But for me it’s like Messi is not human but Cristiano is the best of the humans.”

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Football is a worldwide sport which is enjoyed by all the age groups, across the globe. Over the years the sport has gained its status in India as well. There are many young adults who want to pursue football as their career. To be a footballer isn’t easy, it requires rigorous training and you have a follow certain conduct. There are many league which are played under this sport.

Football has become diverse now, their are tournaments which are taking place for boys and girls under the age of 19 on a look for new talents. Women are also given the opportunity in this sport. As we speak about football, the players are the essence pf the sport. The sportsmen have gained a lot of support and love from their fans. To maintain such rapport with the audience one must ensure that they keep on training and do not loose their form. So here we present to you the best football player of all time.

Who is the best Footballer, all you need to know?

As we know that with the current scenarios to name just one person as the best is not easy. there are many footballers who have excelled individually in their respective roles, such as as a goal keeper, as forward or as a front-back. Some have also been given special recognition depending on the performance which was showcased.

Currently, on the basis of recent performances Lionel Messi is given the spot as the best football player of all time. One must take a note that the list keeps on changing depending on the changing formats and the performance of the players, the entries and exits. Messi is a player from Argentina who has earned the Ballon d’Or six times and the Golden Shoe six times. His achievements include, 35 major trophies for Barcelona, including four UEFA Champions Leagues, seven Copa del Reys, and 10 La Ligas.

Pele- world’s greatest football player of all time.

No matter how many time we change the list of the current football players ranking, we cannot leave behind the man himself, Pele who introduced to us the importance of the sport. He was a former Brazilian professional footballer, who began his career in 1953 playing as a forward. He was given the recognition as the all-time top scorers of the FIFA World Cup.

In the year 1999, the International Olympic Committee named Pele, Athlete of the Century. He is one of the few players who has a Guinness World Record. Countless awards, titles, Pele had gained himself the respect and love not only by his fellow countrymen but also people watch9ng him play on the field. He has earned titles like, the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, the Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur, and the South American Footballer of the Year. In all he has played 1279 games and in total scored 1363 goals.

 

The football fans are fixated on who is the greatest of all time in the soccer arena with the duel between Cristiano Ronald and Lionel Messi entering its last global phase, perhaps.

Nonetheless, Ronaldo and Messi are the only two popular and talented players in our era who have never won the World Cup.

While it is true that Portugal is not a large team with many talented players that can easily claim the title of World Cup winner, the same cannot be said for Argentina, a country that has produced two World Cup victories so far.

Argentina has reached the World Cup final on four occasions. It was defeated by the Uruguay national team way back in 1930, which is the inaugural World Cup competition.

However, Argentina produced excellent football in the competition winning by big scores and establishing Guillermo Stábile, an Argentine professional football player and manager who played as a centre forward during his career, as the top scorer of the 1930 World Cup, scoring 8 goals including a hattrick.

Alas, it lost the final against the gritty Uruguayans with the match ending in a 4-2 win for Uruguay.

Argentina was also defeated in two other finals, in 1990 and 2014, against Germany and the latter went on to win those two finals by 1-0. In 1990, it was the last appearance for maestro Diego Maradona.

But Messi’s country produced two great final victories against the Netherlands in 1974, winning 3-1 in a display of magical soccer between the two opponents (Netherlands had the father of modern football Johan Cryuiff in its squad) and beating Germany in a thrilling 3-2 final giving Maradona his only World Cup final win.

While Messi lost in the first ever final in which he participated in 2014, Ronaldo’s Portugal never reached the final though the troubled Manchester United superstar has played in 4 World Cups since 2006.

Who Will Smile at the 2022 World Cup?

We wrote that Ronaldo is a player who sets precedence and sets the tone for styles and goal scoring prowesses. This is so true for the great player and he is also the first to win a ‘regional’ trophy with his country when Portugal won its first ever Euro Championship in 2016, beating France 1-0 in the final after extra time.

It was Ronaldo’s most important national trophy, leaving the World Cup as the only major international trophy he has yet to win.

The star is going through the most turbulent and disturbing period in his football career and his coach at Manchester United is not helping the player with his dictatorial style and his bullying of one of the greatest soccer stars of all time.

This is not going to help Ronaldo in Portugal’s search for a place in the final at Qatar though we know that the latter cna rise to the occasion if he can put all his woes behind him and focus on the football on the field.

A great performance by Ronald at the World Cup will make Eric Ten Hag look like a fool. But Ronaldo is going through pain and this may, unfortunately for his fans and for football, Ten Hag is contributing to a potentially bad World Cup for the latter.

Ten Hag has- sadly –  never played in any World Cup and is already seen as a troubled coach at Man Utd. The 6-3 defeat against Manchester City and the 4-0 drubbing against Brentford are two big dark spots in his managerial career at Old Trafford. Another misstep with a drubbing by a small club or a big one for that matter may mean Ten Hag could see the gate wide open for him to be excluded from the club.

Why sadly? He does not know how precarious it is to be a player who is going to play in a World Cup. If he knew, he would have been more careful in his choices with Ronaldo.

Nevertheless, Lionel Messi is not facing such worries and the Argentinian ace is in the running as one of the top rated players who may perform well in Qatar.

Messi has announced that this may be his last call for Argentina in the World Cup and that he may retire as an international soccer player, meaning he might not play for his country again after Qatar 2022.

Ronaldo has responded to Messi’s plans for retirement from international football by saying he hopes Messi would reconsider and would continue to play as long as he can because he believes the latter is a great player with great capacities.

This is how Ronaldo is. He encourages his opponents to carry on and to perform in order to bring brightness to the most beautiful game on the planet. Unlike some people.

Messi’s World Cup?

Among all the stars in Qatar, Messi will undoubtedly be looked upon as one of the greatest and he will become the greatest versus Ronaldo if Argentina reaches the final and wins.

Messi too started his World Cup appearances in 2006. Unfortunately, like Ronaldo, he has been putting more emphasis on clus football – which brings them more cash – than national football.

Unlike people like Pele for example, who played for their country with the same grit and enthusiasm when they played for their clubs – Pele won many club titles and World Cup finals at the same time – it does not appear the same for the modern ‘Peles’.

However, Messi has a chance now and if he forgets club soccer for a while, perhaps he may spark a riot at the World Cup and bring the trophy home to Buenos Aires and consecrate himself as the GOAT of our generation.

Messi has scored six goals in 19 matches at the Fifa World Cup spanning four editions. Argentina is a bigger soccer country than Portugal, though Portugal has also produced aces like Ronaldo and the once thrilling Eusebio whose team beat Pele’s in the 1966 World Cup.

Ronaldo has scored seven goals in 17 matches at the FIFA World Cup, scoring in every edition he has played in – 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.

While Ronaldo has advised Messi to continue playing in the World Cup or at International level for a few more years, this year may be his last World Cup.

But depending on his spirit and where he is playing after he leaves Manchester United – unless Ten Hag is kicked out of Old Trafford earlier than January 2023 – Ronaldo may still attempt to give Portugal another shot at the World Cup in 2026! Imagine that.

Nevertheless, it is a pity that none of them have lifted the World Cup trophy, just like the legendary Cryuff who re-invented football with his total soccer styles, reached the final in 1974 and lost to Germany by 2-1.

Cryuff missed the World Cup in 1978 which saw the Netherlands reach the final only to be defeated by host Argentina by 3-1. He did not participate in the World Cup for obscure reasons but in 2008 he revealed why he did not play for the country in 1978.

He told the media that there was a kidnapping attempt on him and his family and that shocked him and while he escaped the attempt, it changed his perspective on life.

Hence, Messi is the best placed in the Qatar 2022 versus Ronaldo who is going through a difficult time, to go and win the cup for once!

Ballon D’or award winners

Ballon D’or which means Golden Ball is the annual football award that is presented by the French news magazine ‘France Football’ the first award was given in the year 1956, and there are many teams that participate in the game.

Some teams have strong players with them that give their best and won the title before the year 1956 the award was referred to as ‘European Football of the Year’ in recent years there have been many changes in the game rules and has been updated more and the rules will keep on adding and changing in upcoming years also to make the game more interesting and exciting. In 2020 there was no game schedule due to COVID-19 was the situation was not very good.

In 2018, the first women’s award was presented which was known as  Ballon d’Or Féminin there are many women’s teams that want to play for this title. But here we have to know the complete details about the award winner from the year 1956 to the recent year 2022, so make sure you stay tuned with us to get the latest update and all related information.

year	player	Nationality	club
2021	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
2020	not awarded	–	–
2019	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2018	Luka Modric	Croatia	Real Madrid
2017	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2016	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2015	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2014	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2013	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Real Madrid
2012	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2011	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2010	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2009	Lionel Messi	Argentina	Barcelona
2008	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Manchester United
2007	Kaká	Brazil	Milan
2006	Fabio Cannavaro	Italy	Real Madrid
2005	Ronaldinho	Brazil	Barcelona
2004	Andriy Shevchenko	Ukraine	Milan
2003	Pavel Nedvěd	Czechia	Juventus
2002	Ronaldo	Brazil	Real Madrid
2001	Michael Owen	England	Liverpool
2000	Luís Figo	Portugal	Real Madrid
1999	Rivaldo	Brazil	Barcelona
1998	Zinedine Zidane	France	Juventus
1997	Ronaldo	Brazil	Internazionale
1996	Matthias Sammer	Germany	Borussia Dortmund
1995	George Weah	Liberia	Milan
1994	Hristo Stoichkov	Bulgaria	Barcelona
1993	Roberto Baggio	Italy	Juventus
1992	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1991	Jean-Pierre Papin	France	Marseille
1990	Lothar Matthäus	Germany	Internazionale
1989	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1988	Marco van Basten	Netherlands	Milan
1987	Ruud Gullit	Netherlands	Milan
1986	Igor Belanov	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1985	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1984	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1983	Michel Platini	France	Juventus
1982	Paolo Rossi	Italy	Juventus
1981	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1980	Karl-Heinz Rummenigge	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1979	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1978	Kevin Keegan	England	Hamburg
1977	Allan Simonsen	Denmark	Borussia M”nchengladbach
1976	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1975	Oleg Blokhin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Kyiv
1974	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1973	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Barcelona
1972	Franz Beckenbauer	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1971	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	Ajax
1970	Gerd Müller	West Germany	Bayern Munich
1969	Gianni Rivera	Italy	Milan
1968	George Best	Northern Ireland	Manchester United
1967	Flórián Albert	Hungary	Ferencv rosi TC
1966	Bobby Charlton	England	Manchester United
1965	Eusébio	Portugal	Benfica
1964	Denis Law	Scotland	Manchester United
1963	Lev Yashin	Soviet Union	Dynamo Moscow
1962	Josef Masopust	Czechoslovakia	Dukla Prague
1961	Omar Sívori	Italy	Juventus
1960	Luis Suárez	Spain	Barcelona
1959	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1958	Raymond Kopa	France	Real Madrid
1957	Alfredo Di Stéfano	Spain	Real Madrid
1956	Stanley Matthews	England	Blackpool

Who has won the most?

Ballon D’or award is mostly won by Lionel Messi he has a record of winning the title7 times and after him, we have Cristiano Ronaldo who has won 5 times. There are also some other players that have won the award three times each.

Women’s Ballon D’or (Ballon d’Or Féminin) award List

Year	Player	Nationality	Club
2021	Alexia Putellas	Spain	Barcelona
2020	Not awarded	–	–
2019	Megan Rapinoe	USA	Reign FC
2018	Ada Hegerberg	Norway	Olympique Lyonnais

PRIOR to Sunday’s World Cup Finals, it is appropriate that it’s a two-player show to who will win the ‘Golden Boot’.

France’s Kylian Mbappe and Argentina’s Lionel Messi lead the way in the race as both celebrities have scored five goals so far in Qatar and have one more chance to improve their tallies.

However, Mbappe’s team-mate Olivier Giroud and Messi’s compatriot Julian Alvarez are just one goal behind in the race to finish the tournament as top goalscorer, too, and collect one of football’s most coveted individual prizes.

There is a pack of seven players on three goals, but none of them are still in the tournament after the quarter-finals so they won’t have a chance to add to their tally. So it will be a straight shootout between the players from the final.

You may well ask, what’s the ‘Golden Boot’. 

It is the award given to the top goal-scorer at each edition of the World Cup. If at the conclusion of the tournament two or more players are tied at the top of the list with the same number of goals, the award will go to the player with the most non-penalty goals, and if they are still tied, it will go to the player with the most assists. 

The top 11 in Qatar:

1. Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 5 (leads the tiebreaker with 3 assists to Mbappe’s 2)
2. Kylian Mbappe (France) – 5
3. Olivier Giroud (France) – 4
4. Julian Alvarez (Argentina) – 4
5. Marcus Rashford (England) – 3
6. Alvaro Morata (Spain) – 3
7. Enner Valencia (Ecuador) – 3
8. Bukayo Saka (England) – 3
9. Richarlison (Brazil) – 3
10. Goncalo Ramos (Portugal) – 3
11. Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) – 3

If you’re keen to know the past winners the past 40 years, here’s the proper list:

1982: Paolo Rossi (ITA) – 6

1986: Gary Lineker (GBR) – 6

1990: Salvatore Schillaci – 6

1994: Oleg Salenko (RUS) / Hristo Stoichkov (BUL) – 6

1998: Davor Suker (CRO) – 6

2002: Ronaldo (BRA) – 8

2006 – Miroslav Klose (GER) – 5

2010 – Thomas Muller (GER) – 5

2014 – James Rodriguez (COL) – 6

2018 – Harry Kane (GBR) – 6

For the fastest goal in Qatar, Alphonso Davies has been the most alert after the ref’s whistle, scoring after just one minute and eight seconds in Canada’s 4-1 defeat to Croatia.

The next fastest goal comes over two minutes later, a Hakim Ziyech 35-yard chip for Morocco against Canada on three minutes 31 seconds, while Theo Hernandez was also quick off the mark in France’s semi-final against Morocco, scoring within five minutes.

For the most clean sheets, Morocco lead the way here with four clean sheets but having now been knocked out by France, the dark horses could be matched in their achievements by Argentina, should Messi’s team keep a clean sheet in the final.

Other yellow and/or red cards records, South Korea’s Paulo Bento became the first coach ever shown a red card at a World Cup match, during his team’s clash with Uruguay.

Let’s focus on the ‘Golden Boot’ and keep fingers crossed, it goes to a worthy winner.

* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.

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