“Be not afraid of greatness some are born great,
some achieve greatness, and some
have greatness thrust upon them.”
William Shakespeare (TWELFTH NIGHT)
Man, by his spiritual, physical and natural disposition remains a riddle, locked in a puzzle and superimposed in a conundrum. His quintessential struggle for fame, greatness and success acts as a catalyst for his ambitions and voyage through life. In his desire to excel he creates adorable mentors stimulating healthy and unhealthy rivalry and normative standards amongst his peers and co-competitors.
Recently, the Real Madrid Football great Christiano Ronaldo declared himself in an interview with the BBC Sports Editor and Correspondent Don Roan that I am the best in the world and comparable with the games all time greats”. He said he had reached a level where it is not easy to improve.
Ronaldo is 30 years old and a Portuguese. He is a three-time world footballer of the year and Real Madrids all-time goal scorer. He joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 for £80 million. His career record stands at 504 goals in 750 appearances; he is the Champions Leagues top scorer with 82 goals.
Ronaldo joined Manchester United from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m in 2003, scoring 118 goals for the club in 292 appearances. Since moving to Madrid, where he is under contract until 2018, he has so far scored 326 goals in 314 matches. Ronaldo further asserted in the interview that in my mind, Im always the best. I dont care what people think and what they say. In my mind, not just this year but always, Im always the best.
That Ronaldo is one of Footballs all-time greats remains an unquestionable truism. But soccer fans, analysts, pundits and aficionadas have always argued about who is greater, Ronaldo or Messi?
Lionel Messi the Argentina and FC Barcelona forward, Balloon dor master, four- time world player of the year with 418 goals in 492 club appearances etc remains one of the greatest footballers of all time. But, is he greater than Christiano Ronaldo? Both of them are masters and mysteries of football. They understand the chemistry and architectonics of football. If you watch Messi on his day, you will scream that this is magical and only divine. If you watch Ronaldo on his day, you will scream that this extraterrestrial and unbelievable. But who is greater?
The aggression, speed, guts and physical runs and dribbles which Christiano Ronaldo puts in to score a goal is much more than that which Lionel Messi puts in. Messi floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. We see in Messi a gentle almost effortlessly waltzing dexterously through defenders to get goals. I believe that both are gifted by nature, but Messi is 80% nature and 20% nurture and vice versa for Ronaldo. The philosopher Confucius in his ANALECTS observed that Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
A vertical and horizontal integration of the facts of The Beautiful Game has shown that there has always been this allure to compare footballers and the temptation to ascribe greatness to one or the other. We sometime ago argued that Pele of Brazil was greater than Stanley Matthews of England, that Diego Maradona, Tolstoy, Pasarela, Zico, Ronaldino, Alberto, Roger Miller and Abedi Pele were greater than Johanne Cruff. In Nigeria we have often argue that Tempest Ubaka was better than Kenneth Olayombo, Olowokere, Peter Anieke, Thompson Usiyan, Henry Nwosu, Martins Bomiaye, Jose Dombraye, Amasimaka Adokiye, Segun Odegbami, Christian Madu and Humphrey Edobor etc.
It was Baron Gottfried Wilhelm in his book MONADOLOGY that said In nature there can never be two beings that are exactly alike. Therefore, Messi and Ronaldo are great like all legends and the best as they see themselves. They have done beautifully well for football and that is what matters. Hence, Oscar Wilde in his book THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE OF ART said that beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, and creeds follow one another like the withered leaves of autumn; but what is beautiful is a joy for all seasons and a possession for all eternity.
Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are living legends, the best in their own right and above all they have done beautifully well for the Beautiful Game. To compare both of them will only provoke unhealthy rivalry and stimulate comments made out of bias and prejudices. Indeed, the essayist Wadsworth Longfellow observed that the heights reached and attained by great men, were not reached and attained by sudden flight. They toiled all night whilst others slept. May God bless Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and The Beautiful Game. And may He deliver it from the hands of FIFAs corrupt syndicate and solipsistic aficionados and pundits.
CHIEF BOBSON GBINIJE
MANDATE AGAINST POVERTY (MAP)
WARRI – 08023250378
