Juan Nicols Villa Alarcn Ms. Kingsbury English 112 February 23rd 2012.

The Two Greats of Football Football, known as soccer in the United States, is the most popular and played sport around the world. It is safe to say that football is the main sport in continents such as South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Football is so popular that nearly everybody in these continents plays it or at least has an idea of what to do with a football when they are given one. There are an estimated of 265.000.000 football players around the world. That is about the 85% of the United States population. Therefore, it is easy to see that making it to the top of the world pyramid of football is not an easy task, because any player wanting to achieve this goal has to be better than 264.999.999 other players. Although this task seems nearly impossible, the Argentinian, Lionel Messi and the Portuguese, Cristiano Ronaldo, have been able to make it to the top by smashing the competition. These two players are the most valuable players of their respective teams, because both of them are top scorers. They are said to be the two best football players right now; however, there will always be a discussion about who is number one in the world.

Lionel Messi is a twenty-four years old and Argentinian. He is originally from a town called Rosario located in eastern Argentina. Messi started playing football at the age of five for a local team coached by his father. When he was eleven, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. His treatment cost about nine hundred dollars per month, yet he belonged to the working class and his parents werent able to pay for his treatment. Many football teams in Argentina were aware of his talent; however, none of the managers were willing to pay for his treatment. Fortunately, Carles Rexach, who by that time was the sports manager of Football Club Barcelona (one of the greatest soccer teams of all time), learns about Messi and his condition. Carles saw his talent and without a paper in hand, he offered the eleven years old child a contract written on a napkin. In the contract, FC Barcelona would be willing to pay for his medical bills if Messi would enroll in FC Barcelona development schools and move to Spain. After moving to Barcelona, Messis progress as a footballer was incredible. Despite being only sixteen years old, Messi had his first debut on a Division One European league. With this achievement, Messi became one of the youngest players ever to play for a Division One team. By that time, young Messi had a promising future and he still does. By age twenty-

four, Messi has achieved a large number of trophies and recognitions that most of footballers will never achieve by the age of their retirement. Messi, playing for his one and only team FC Barcelona, has made about 326 appearances in football games and has scored about 222 goals with countless assists. Even though he has done a great job with his club, Messi is usually criticized by his international career in which he has had sixtysix appearances with the Argentinian national team, and has only scored nineteen goals. Unfortunately, he has not been able to win a world cup in any category. Although Lionel Messi has not performed amazingly with his national team, he has been rewarded by his career with FC Barcelona by being the winner of achievements such as the FIFA Ballon dOr, which translates for FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) Golden Ball. The golden ball is the biggest achievement a footballer can earn during his career. Messi has won this Ballon dOr three years in a row since 2009. FIFA Ballon dOr is one of the many achievements the Argentinian Star Lio Messi has won so far. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, simply known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a twenty-seven year old Portuguese football star. He was originally born on the Portuguese island, Madeira. Close relatives to

Ronaldo say that he was a child with low self-esteem. However, when Ronaldo realized the acceptance that football had on his country and all over the world, all he wanted to do was play. At the age of eight, Ronaldo started playing with an amateur team called Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo joined a semi-pro Portuguese team in which he experienced a title-winning campaign. This led him to a threeday trial with a professional Portuguese football team called Sporting Clube de Portugal. Since a young age, Ronaldos skills were so outstanding that he was the first Sporting CP player to ever play in the U16, U17, U18, B- Team and first team all within one season. His talent captured the attention of many scouts so that by at age sixteen, he was selected to play with the national team under his category (U16). Ronaldos career was going great until he was diagnosed with a racing heart condition at age fifteen; a condition that might have forced him to give up football. However, he went under surgery in which a laser cauterized the area of his heart that was causing the problem. A couple of days after the surgery, Ronaldo was able to get back to the field. Moreover, Ronaldos fluke wasnt until his team (Sporting) had a friendly match with one of the greatest teams in the British Football, Manchester United, which was directed by Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Ferguson, and his

players were so amazed by Ronaldos skills that he pushed Manchester Uniteds board of directors to acquire this young player. Ronaldo debuted with Manchester United on November of 2003 and scored a hat trick, which left his team with a victory of four to cero. Ronaldo spent about six years with the red devils (Manchester United) from 2003 to 2009. The last years spent with Manchester United, were the ones when Ronaldo experienced the peak of his career as a footballer. In 2009 the Spanish club, Real Madrid, offered Ronaldos former club, Manchester United, the sum of eighty million pounds. This sum paid from Madrid to Manchester, has been the highest transfer fee ever paid in the worlds football history. So far, Ronaldo has been in 445 appearances with his three main clubs and has scored about 243 goals. Ronaldo has been called to play for Portugals National Team since he was fifteen and is still playing. Similar to the Argentinian Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo has won plenty of awards that make him as one of the worlds best football players of all time. Ronaldo has also won the FIFA Ballon dOr like Messi. He was the top scorer of the English Premier League five times, and just like Messi, he is the captain of his national team.

Overall, these two players are great footballers that had to overcome adversity at a young age. They both have made it to the top because they work so hard, therefore it is hard for the media to choose one or the other as the best in the world. Although Messi started his career younger than Ronaldo with the help of FC Barcelona, Ronaldo still made his way to the top with the help of his father. When it comes to comparing these footballers, many things come to mind such as their game style, their positions, and their achievements. All these factors affect the way these players are rated. Football is a team sport and besides Messi or Ronaldo, there are ten more players that play with their respective teams that are also available to change the direction of a game. When it comes to Ronaldo and Messi, some people compare them like comparing a Ferrari with a Lamborghini; both of them have their advantages and disadvantages. Choosing between the two players strictly becomes a matter of opinion or personal interest. They both are great players and are at the top of the pyramid. Everybody should appreciate them despite their differences, because they were the players who were able to shine among the other 264.999.998 footballers.