I read that he will only miss the quarters and will definitley feature against Manure at some point. Everytime he touches the ball I expect him to do something magical. That for me is the difference between him & Ronaldo or Kaka. Ronaldo has the the abilty to do something wonderful at some point in the game, but Messi is more than likely to do something everytime he gets the ball at his feet. I rate Ronaldo highly but still feel Messi is just simply a better player.

My hero and I'm older than him

same, he is one of my fav player and im older than him. its very upsetting.

I'm younger than Messi, but still, it's upsetting that someone so young can be so good. Especially as we all dream of making it as a pro footballer, and then you see Messi who was tearing up La Liga defenses as the age of about 16.

Better player than Ronaldo in my opinion

An unbiased United fan

I love that emoticon!

Ronaldo is not the best in the world, he is simply the most hyped player in the world, similar to Steven Gerrard. He goes missing in every single big game, he has poor teamwork, more often than not his free kicks balloon over the bar, he is a selfish egotist. People point to his scoring record this season which is undoubtedly excellent, but how many of those goals have came against the other big 3? And judging by all the appearences Messi has made for Barcelona and all the appearnces Ronaldo has made for United Messi has a better goal to game ratio. He also collects more assists, Ronaldo has made just 2 goals in EPL ths season. Messi also thrives in big matches, not only did he score a hat trick against Real Madrid last year but he has also put in man of the match perfromances against Chelsea, Valencia and Sevilla in the past. Also, has Ronaldo ever scored a goal quite as incredible as Messi' against Getafe or as delicately beautiful as Messi's against Mexico, I rest my case.

Excellent first post there - why don't you create a new topic in the newcomers section to introduce yourself?

From my point of view, the best player of the world is Messi, and the second Kaka.
But Messi is very irregular because they're injured a lot of weeks, and Kaka is more regular, because they plays well everyday.

I think Cristiano Ronaldo is a monster, but he isn't as good as Messi or Kaka

The way you talk about him he should be playing for Dorchester Town FC.

Arsenal fan.

I don't think he's a bad player, he is actually a very good player but not good enough to be considered the best in the world, but fans of the EPL have such a one dimensional view of football. They just assume whoever's the best in the Premiership is the best in the world because it's "the best league in the world". Ronaldo scored a great free kick against Portsmouth.....the next day journalists and pundits were calling it the best free kick of all time which is not only ludicrous, it is highly ignorant.

I just did , why don't you go on to general football and view my first footballing discussion.

True it wasn't the best free kick in the world. I dunno if you are watching United at the moment but Ronaldo has just scored another 2 goals in less than 20 minutes. That's 33 so far this season, 24 in 24 Premiership starts.

Going back to someone's point on assists. Apparently you say Ronaldo has assisted 2. He has scored 33. So lets say he has been directly involved in 35 goals.

Has any other player this season been directly involved (scored or assisted) in as many goals this season?

Of course it is not all about attack so it is worth mentioning he is a part of a United team that has the best defence in the Premiership who have conceded 10 less than Spanish leaders Real Madrid and have played 2 games less than them.

If Messi or Kaka had achieved such a feat I'm sure you would spunk all over them.

Its true that Ronaldo scores more than Messi, but it doesn't mean he's a better player. Messi's goals are a thing of beauty, more often than not they involve him beating at least 1 player, Ronaldo's goals almost feel mass-produced as they're almost all against teams in the bottom half of the table eg. his goals tonight(although his free kick was amazing) I know goals against small teams count for as much as goals against big teams but its the great goals in the big matches that have you remebered as a legend of the game . If you mention Maradona's name the first thing that springs to a true football fan's mind is that incredible goal against England(not the hand of God). If you mention Pele's name that exquisite goal he scored as a teenager in the 1958 world cup final springs to mind. If you mention Kaka his fantastic double against Man United comes to mind. Messi and Kaka both already have a collection of high class goals in big games, and I know Messi's run was against Getafe but if you consider Getafe had a great season and even had the best defensive record in La Liga last year suddenly the goal seems even more impressive. Ronaldo has scored some fine strikes against the Bolton's, Portsmouth's and Fulham's of this world but has ever scored a great goal against an Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool?

A player should be judged in the long term, not just a game or two he has done well in.

No player in the world right now is playing consistantly at the level Ronaldo is and he has been doing so for 2 seasons.

So you want to judge the players on the long tem?

Messi has a higher goal to game ratio than Ronaldo judging from all the games Messi has played for Barcelona and all the games Ronaldo has played for Man Unted and so does Kaka.

And exactly what big games has Ronaldo performed in, excluding Roma which has more of a team performance and was heavily contributed to by Roma's open attcking game that just fell apart.

Why do people criticise Cristiano Ronaldo that much?
I just can't understand that.He is much better than any others I think.

Even tho he scored twice he gave the ball away an awful lot to night far too easily. Which is someting you don't see from Messi.

And this happens in alot of games - which is extremely frustrating. Dont get me wrong, the guy is quality, and I like him. I just dont go along with all the hype that surrounds him right now. He is important to the team, he is a top class player, but he has to improve before he can be labled the best in the world.