World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RONALDOvMESSI

Words:SidLowe

Ronaldoscored 40 times,but onlyfive

timesgottheopeninggoal andscoredin

18 differentmatches,whileMessiopened

thescoring 12 timesandscoredin 20

differentgames.Since theBarcelona

game,Ronaldo hadscoredfouragainst

Sevilla,threeagainst Getafe,twoagainst

Villarrealandtwoagainst Almeria, but

theyhadnothelpedMadridwin the

title.Hehadonlyscoredonceagainst

Barcelona– andthatwas a penalty.

Someasked,whatwas thepoint?

Thepointwas therecord.And so

stunninga record wasitthattopickholes

initappearedincrediblyharsh.Hehad,

after all, scoredthe winninggoalinthe

CopadelRey final.Andforall the

sniping,itisa figurethatisunlikelyto

everbebeateninLaLiga.It alsoleftthe

restofthe country, andthe continent,

trailing.Ronaldofinishedtheseasonnine

goals aheadofMessi, 12 ahead of Italy’s

topscorer,Antonio Di Natale,and 19

aheadofDimitarBerbatov– scoring

almost twiceasmanyas hisformer

ManchesterUnitedteam-mate.

Therewasanincrediblevarietyof

goals,too:Ronaldoscored 20 with

hisrightfoot,eightwithhisleft,four

free-kicks,eight penaltiesandfour

headers.Hehadscored 40 in just 3 4

games– a recordof a goalevery 72

minutes.That’sbetter thananyoneelse

Eightyearsapart,SidLoweandJimHolden

givetheirtakeontheRonaldovMessidebate

Ronaldo v Messi:

Rivalry...Messiand

Ronaldolockhorns

78 OFRONALDO

2011

T

heonlyquestionRealMadrid

fanswereasking on thefinal

dayof the 2010 -11season

waswouldCristianoRonaldo

score?After three-and-a-halfminutes

heprovidedtheanswer,dashinginat

thefarpost againstAlmeriatoputthe

balloverthelineforhis 39 thgoalof

theseason.Lateron he scoredanother

tobecometheleague’stopscorer–

notjust thisseasonbutofany season,

breakingthepreviousrecordof 38 held

jointlybyTelmoZarra(in 1 950- 51 ) and

HugoSanchez(1989-90).

Madrid paperMarcaactuallymade

it 41 goalsand,asthe newspaperthat

officiallyawardsthe Pichichitrophyfor

thetopscorer, 41 it wouldhavetobe.

Everyoneelse, includingthe ESMgroup

thatawardsthe Golden ShoeandReal

Madridthemselvescalledit40,with

themissing“goal”inquestionbeinga

free-kick in SanSebastianthathitPepe

andloopedintotheRealSociedadnet.

Now,ithardlymattered.Eitherway,

Ronaldohadbrokentherecord.For

Madrid,itwas like a trophy– an

objectiveto chasefollowingtheir

relinquishingofthetitleanddefeat

inthe ChampionsLeaguesemi-final.

Playersandcoachingstaffadmittedthat

theyweretryingtohelpRonaldotothe

record.He,inturn,dedicatedittohis

team-mates,offeringthanksfor

theirsupport.

Somequestionedits validityand

thequalityoftheopposition.They

questionedtherecord’s worth.After

all,nineofRonaldo’sgoalscamein

thefinalsixgamesfollowingthe 1 -1

drawwithBarcelona,whicheffectively

endedthe titlerace. Hisgoalswereless

significant than thoseofotherscorers.

Andby “other”, thatcanmeanonly

oneman:LionelMessi.

ThesometimestediousMessi-

Ronaldodebate wasnotdampened

either; quite theopposite.Every time

Ronaldo’s record wasmentioned,

peoplethrewMessi’s back.Ronaldo

hadgot more penalties – eightto

Messi’s four. Messiscored 16

away,15 at home;Ronaldo

got 2 6 at home, 14 away.

Meanwhile,Ronaldo

hadprovidednine

assistscompared

toMessi’s19.

Hewas,

thecritics

concluded,

toomuch

ofan

individual.