Piers Morgan has insisted that Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest footballer of all time despite Lionel Messi’s sensational performances for Argentina at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar, insisting that one World Cup does not make him the Greatest Of All Time.
On Tuesday night December 14, Messi delivered yet another impressive performance during Argentina’s 3-0 win against Croatia, taking his nation into Sunday’s final and one match away from World Cup glory.
As fans continue to brand Messi as the best-ever footballer, Morgan insisted Ronaldo was still the greatest of all time and defended his stance in an interview with talkSPORT on Wednesday.
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“On that I will always put up a very passionate and quite forensic defence of Ronaldo. I think he deserves that title.
“One World Cup does not a GOAT make. Messi hasn’t even won it yet!
“When you look at the stats between Ronaldo and Messi, it’s important to remember Ronaldo is two years’ older.
“It’s also important to remember that, unlike Messi who stayed in his Barcelona comfort blanket for 17 years, Ronaldo has won league titles in four different countries, including the three most competitive leagues in the world.
“He’s taken himself out of comfort zones – he could have stayed at Real Madrid for most of his career if he wanted to, but he’s deliberately taken himself into new leagues and new challenges.
“Whereas Messi, he’s only ever done it for Barcelona, and there all around him the entire time were the world’s greatest players. Ronaldo has often had to lead that line pretty much on his own.”
Following Messi’s rampant display on Tuesday, Gary Lineker asked on Twitter: “Is there still a debate? Asking for a goat.”
Moments later, Morgan simply tweeted in reply: “There isn’t. It’s Ronaldo.”I’ve been watching a lot of the Messi fan-boying and fan-girling during the World Cup, and I’ve been laughing,” Morgan continued to tell talkSPORT.
“OK, he’s having a good World Cup, but it’s the first one he’s turned up for!
“If you stay at a team like Barcelona for the majority of your career and then you go to PSG and a very easy league like the French Ligue 1, are you really a better player over that period than somebody who has consistently won titles in three of the most competitive leagues there are? I’m not sure.
“I love this debate because it winds people up, but the reality is they are two of the three greatest ever.
“Diego Maradona, to me, is the greatest Argentine to ever play the game – Messi doesn’t even get that GOAT title.
“If you look at career goals, Champions League goals, Ronaldo is way ahead. He’s better in the air, he’s better with both feet, albeit Messi has a left-foot wand.
“I can rack up a pretty large sheet of facts which I think leads to the conclusion that not only is Ronaldo the GOAT, but Messi is only the second biggest GOAT from Argentina!
“And I think France are going to win the World Cup and break Messi’s heart, anyway!”
