The Greatest of All Time

With the World Cup right around the corner I cant help but keeping thinking that this could be the World Cup where we could have witnessed the greatest World Cup team ever (Spain) and that this World Cup could also lay rest to who is the best player in the world, Messi or Ronaldo. And the stage is set for one of these two to ultimately become the greatest player of all time.

First lets tackle Spain and why this is their year. They are without a doubt the most talented team in the World Cup. Spain's preliminary roster includes a dozen players from Madrid and Barcelona and even features new comers such as David De Gea and Cesar Azpilicueta who probably wont see much time but down the road will become central players for Spain. As i said all the big names are here for Spain, at forward they have Barcelona's new addition in David Villa (21 goals) and Fernando Torres (18 goals) who is coming back from injury. Glancing over the midfield you have the likes of Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Xavi Hernandez. On the backline they trot out Carlos Puyol and Sergio Ramos and in net they will have Iker Casillas. So can anyone even sniff stopping La Roja?

The answer to that question is no. Spain will navigate through group play with little resistance, but their match up with group G in the round of 16 should present somewhat of a challenge for them. Group G includes the likes of Ivory Coast, Portgual and Brazil. Spain should handle any of these teams with ease. As in the past the biggest question is not the other team but rather Spain itself. Spain has always had talent but somehow found a way to underachieve in big games, look no further than last years Confed Cup lost to the U.S. If you think that Euro 08 rid them of their demons you are sadly mistaken. I understand that talent does not always win championship, but with a team that has to be considered one of if not the most talented World Cup team of all time don't you think they are do? Especially seeing as how their best finish was 4th... in 1950. I say this is their time and they put on a sceptical the likes of which we have never seen. I look for them on June 16th to open up with a thrashing of Switzerland and never look back.

Now onto the real argument at hand. Does Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo have what it takes to become the greatest soccer player of all time? Yes. First, Ronaldo. I believe that Ronaldo is still better than Messi. In his first season with Real Madrid Ronaldo did not disappoint, scoring 26 goals in 29 games. Out of those 29 games Ronaldo eight times scored two goals. Whenever Madrid needed a goal Ronaldo was there to provide them with one. Ronaldo has all the tools to become the greatest of all time, he is extremely fast and agile with the ball, has a dangerous shot and also has one of the best set pieces in soccer. I know people consider Zidane or Eric Cantona the greatest of all time but today soccer is much different, the players are faster, stronger, quicker and more agile. I think its more impressive to dominate the game today than in the early to late 90's. On the other hand Ronaldo does catch a lot of shit because of his diving. In six games at the 2006 World Cup Ronaldo only found the back of the net one time. If Portugal plans on getting out of a difficult group they will surly need him to do better. 2010 is Ronaldo's stage. The World Cup is the biggest stage and Ronaldo has shown that he can perform in some of the biggest stages in the world with Man U and now Madrid. I am excited to see what he can do, if Ronaldo fails to perform however in the World Cup would he start to be soccer's version of LeBron James. An athlete with immense talent but fails to win? We shall see.

On to Messi. To me it seems that Messi is the new flavor of the month if you will. I think Soccer is the only sport where year in and year out the best player changes, (05-Ronaldinho, 06-Cannavaro, 07-Kaka, 08-Ronaldo,09-Messi). If you go back three to four years everyone would have said Ronaldinho is the best hands down without a question. Then just a year ago everyone was on the Ronaldo bang wagon and now everyone has jumped off the Ronaldo bang wagon and jumped onto Messi. There's no denying Messi's talent and at the age of 22 the sky is the limit. Now is everyone slightly overreacting to Messi's unbelievable season(34 goals/10 assists)? I think yes, Messi carried Barcelona so much so that they edged out Mardid by 3 points to win the Primera. In 09 Messi was very good with 23 goals but nowhere near as good as he was this season and like Ronaldo he has yet to perform well on the big stage, however he was only 18 in 2006 so you can not take a lot away from that. With the addition of David Villa to Barcelona there is no way Messi produces like he did this year. But does he have the ability to become one of if not the greatest of all time? Yes and if he were to lead Argentina all the way to the World Cup championship then the legacy of Messi would take on a life of its own. All I know is if I were building a team I would still take Ronaldo, despite the knock on his leadership abilities watching him on the field is like watching none other. He just has it, the ability to single handly put the team on his back and carry them. Looks like the 2010 World Cup will be deciding much more than just the best team.