Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro was born in 1985. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. The legendary Dutch genius Johan Cruyff said he's one of the best ever. Ronaldo became a soccer superstar playing for English team Manchester United, Spain's Real Madrid and for Portugal. He plays in midfield, from where he regularly scores spectacular goals.
Ronaldo started kicking a ball around when he was three. His skill was obvious then and by ten years old, two of Portugal's top clubs wanted to sign him. He joined Sporting Lisbon and became the only player in their history to play for the Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, B team and first-team within one season. His skills soon attracted Europe's big teams.
Manchester United decided Ronaldo was the perfect replacement for David Beckham and signed him in 2003. He set the English Premier League alight in his time there with his silky skills, and helped the team win nine trophies, including the UEFA Champions League. He also picked up the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008.
In 2009, Ronaldo joined his boyhood heroes Real Madrid and became the most expensive footballer in history. His transfer fee was over $131 million. He broke Real's scoring record in his second season, with 53 goals in all competitions. He bettered that in 2011-12, netting 60 times to help Real win Spain's La Liga. In 2012, Diego Maradona said Ronaldo was "the best player on the planet."
Lionel Messi (born June 24, 1987) is an Argentine football player currently playing for the Barcelona club and Argentine national football team. Considered one of the best players of all time and the best player in the world in his time, he is also the owner of many noble titles such as the European Golden Ball 2009, Player Best of FIFA 2009, FIFA 2010 Golden Ball, 2011,2012 and 2015. His play is compared to the legendary Diego Maradona, who considered himself a "messenger".
Messi started playing football at an early age and his talent was recognized by the Barcelona club. He left Newell's Old Boys in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe after Barcelona offered to support him for the cost of treating growth hormone deficiency. Having debuted in the 2004-05 season, he broke the youngest player record of La Liga and became the youngest player to score in the league at the time. The titles that came to Barca in the first season of Messi are the La Liga championship, and they won the league title both in La Liga and the 2006 Champions League. 2006-07 is the breakout season of He became an important player in the I squad, scored a hat-trick in the El Clásico match and finished the season with 14 goals in 26 matches. The 2008-09 season was Messi's most successful season when he scored 38 goals and became a key player in the Catalan side's sixth. This record was broken in the 2009-10 season, when Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equaling Ronaldo's record in Barcelona. He went on to win again in 2010-11 with 53 goals in all competitions.
