Cristiano Ronaldo Would Surpass Lionel Messi as Best in World with Euro Cup Win

If Cristiano Ronaldo can lead Portugal to a Euro Cup championship, there will no longer be any question that he is the best football player in the world. 

And yes, that includes Lionel Messi. 

Let's face it, as things currently stand, it's Ronaldo, Messi and then everyone else. Some may differ on which of those two is the best, but there's no question that duo is head and shoulders above every other player in the world.

Robin van Persie is making a strong case to be considered in that group, but for now, I'm going to leave the 28-year-old out of the discussion.

What currently puts Messi on another level, at least in my opinion, is his ability to make everyone around him better.

He and Cristiano can both put the ball in the back of the net; no one is going to say otherwise. In La Liga alone, Ronaldo racked up 46 goals in 37 appearances, while Messi scored 50 in 36.

By comparison, the next highest goal-scorer in the league was Falcao, with 24, just barely trailing Ronaldo by 22.

But now back to Messi's ability to set up his teammates.

Sticking with La Liga competition, the Argentine, according to whoscored.com, racked up 16 assists, 2.5 key passes, 1.4 accurate long balls and 1.5 accurate through balls per game. He also completed 84.3 percent of his attempted passes.

And Ronaldo's numbers in those categories? 12, 1.6, 1.1, 0.5 and 80.6. Certainly not numbers to be ashamed of, but he's not quite on Messi's level in his ability to distribute. 

So, yes, for now, Lionel Messi is No.1. 

This is where the Euro Cup comes in.

In addition to needing to separate himself in big-time matches (La Liga isn't proving anything for Ronaldo or Messi right now), Ronaldo needs to show he can carry a lesser team to a win over better squads.

By most accounts, Portugal is only the fourth or fifth best team in this tournament, and not even the second-best team in their group. 

If Ronaldo were to somehow lead Portugal past Spain, Germany, Netherlands and France, it would go down as one of the greatest runs of all time.

On top of that, Portugal hardly has any goal-scoring talent besides Ronaldo. He's certainly going to be the focal point of opposing defenses, and while he'll still have opportunities to score, he's going to have to set up his teammates, as well. 

While this whole notion is slightly unfair to Messi, considering he obviously can't play in this tournament, the mountain of a task in front of Ronaldo is big enough that I would be willing to give him his due credit if he succeeds.

Win one of the biggest tournaments as a large underdog, find a way to distribute to lesser teammates when necessary and dominate at the right times when defenses are all preparing for you.

That's all Ronaldo has to do to establish himself as the best player in the world. 

Follow @t_keen