Comparing the International Form of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
The trend for prestigious international friendly games to take place during breaks from domestic football isn't going away any time soon, with Portugal and Argentina the latest nations to pair up for an exhibition game on Tuesday.
Stars of the global game, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, will of course be the central figures to watch, with both still considered the top two talents on the planet due to their long-lasting form with their respective clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It won't be in the colours of El Clasico that they face up this week, though, but in international colours where they are once more both in periods of transition and chasing glory.
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"Most shots on target in Europe's top 5 leagues this season: Ronaldo 39, Agüero 30, Messi 27, Lacazette 26, Gignac 25
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 16, 2014"
Portugal vs. Argentina or Ronaldo vs. Messi?
Though it's Portugal against Argentina, the game is taking place at Old Trafford, Manchester, England.
The billing of a match between the top two in the game was expected to be enough to see the crowds flock to England's biggest club stadium—but it hasn't worked out that way. BBC Sport report only 15,000 tickets sold, well shy of the 75,000 capacity.
Ronaldo is in the best form of his life this season with his club and Argentina have plenty of pulling power with star names even without Messi—Angel Di Maria will be in his home stadium, for example—but other factors could be at work.
The simplest one? The match takes place in England. At the same time England have a match. Against Scotland, their nearest and oldest enemies.
Pre-2014 and World Cup
Having netted 25 international goals for Portugal by the end of 2010, Ronaldo's goalscoring at international level has exploded since.
He hit eight goals in World Cup 2014 qualifying, with of course half of those being pivotal in his nation booking their place at the finals—Ronaldo scored them all in the epic play-off second leg against Sweden. Since then he surpassed his nation's record goalscoring tally, previously held by Pauleta, then surpassed the 50-goal mark—the first Portuguese player to do so and one of only 41 players in the game's history to do so.
Like with club Real Madrid, Ronaldo has emerged into a centre-forward, free to range the width of the pitch but certainly as a focal point in the attack due to his physical prowess and extraordinary consistency in front of goal.
At the World Cup itself Ronaldo scored just once as Portugal flopped completely.
"Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to Facebook to deny the reports of his nickname for Lionel Messi: http://t.co/VoEjSojVz9 pic.twitter.com/o8CnSrZvYf
— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) November 11, 2014"
Lionel Messi, meanwhile, was handed the Argentina captaincy for the 2014 World Cup qualification campaign and can, somewhat similar to Ronaldo, point to recent years with an explosion in his scoring antics for his nation.
Messi registered 19 up to the end of 2011...and then 26 in the three years since then.
During 2014 World Cup qualifying Messi scored 10 times, the second-highest in the CONMEBOL region. Those goals saw him surpass Diego Maradona and Hernan Crespo in the top scorers of all time for Argentina, with just the legendary Gabriel Batistuta now ahead of Messi by 11.
At Brazil 2014, Messi initially dragged his nation through the group stage with a series of goals and assists, but the run to the final saw him quieter than usual and he did not score past the group stage—but still ended with four goals and four man-of-the-match awards, as well as the Golden Ball for best player overall.
Post-World Cup
Alejandro Sabella and Paulo Bento, the managers in charge of these two nations at the World Cup, have both departed.
Tata Martino now leads Messi and Argentina, with Fernando Santos charged with leading Portugal and Ronaldo. Both managers face the usual problem with such stars: How to design a team based around the talents and abilities of these consistent, goalscoring machines, yet not at the expense of other available talent?
Argentina have been afforded time away from competitive action to solve this puzzle: From four international friendlies, Messi didn't play in the win over Germany, missed a penalty in the defeat to Brazil, scored two and claimed an assist in a 7-0 rout of Hong Kong and netted the winning penalty in a 2-1 win over Croatia.
"50 - Lionel Messi has scored vs Croatia the 50th penalty goal of his career (43 goals for Barcelona and seven for Argentina). Milestone.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 12, 2014"
His role and position have changed in those matches and he could play either wide or centrally for Martino against Portugal.
Ronaldo was missing in Portugal's first Euro 2016 qualifier against Albania, out injured, but he returned for a friendly loss to France. Since then he has played and scored late winners in both qualifying games, 1-0 wins over both Denmark and Armenia.
"Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal leads Portugal over Armenia, 1-0. Ronaldo now top UEFA European Championship scorer. pic.twitter.com/xy8co5Fke8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 14, 2014"
He remains utterly key to Portugal's hopes of making the Euros and certainly comes into this match between the two national-team captains as the most in-form, both in recent weeks domestically and with post-World Cup impact.
| Ronaldo, POR | 3 caps / 2 goals | 3 / 1 | 10 / 8 | 11 / 7 | 122 / 52 |
| Messi, ARG | 3 caps / 3 goals | 7 / 4 | 14 / 10 | 13 / 13 | 94 / 44 |
