World Cup 2026

[thebuzz]

Ronaldo was always the better athlete, but Messi is just a more naturally gifted footballer. Less theatrics with Messi as well - a far more rounded team player who doesn't seek to make every game about him with theatrics.
[/quote]

For me that's why he should be considered the better of the two overall.

[Captain Scarlet]

He had big moments in the past year, but Ronaldo is like a former county man coming on late in a club game. You can see that the mind is ahead of his body.

Portugal have a serious team but he is still worth a shout if they are chasing a goal.

I know some players may be out of club form for Argentina but they also have a tidy team and they still fully trust Messi and are not obliged to pass to him.

How will the Three Lions get on this evening?

[tiempo]

Who are the Messi and Ronaldo of GAA

McCurry and Murphy?

[gallsman]

But has Martinez the bottle to relegate Ronaldo the icon?

Of course he doesn't. Martinez is the one who brought him back in the first place. When he was benched for Ramos (correctly) in Qatar that should have been the end of him as an international footballer.

Whether Ronaldo is or was a better "athlete" than Messi is, frankly, meaningless. Messi has been the better footballer, which is what matters, from about 2006, and without doubt from the 08/09 season on. I'm not sure there's anyone who even pretends to dispute this any more.

I was talking about Ronaldo's present day value to the team vis a vis Messi's value to Argentina,  not about comparing footballing qualities or merits of each and not least indulging in a meaningless binary debate about who is/ was the better player.  And Ronaldo without that athleticism is quite frankly a player who would never ever score 300+ goals for RM, but nevertheless he still retained the knack of scoring (vital) goals on the intl stage in WC qualifiers and Nations League 2023 /24/25. From watching him on occasion this season 2025/2026 he has declined even more so to the level of caricature.

The only part of your post that I was directly addressing was the piece around Martinez, hence why the quote was edited to only that rather than your entire post.

The rest of my post is my two cents on the general discussion in relation to Messi/Ronaldo.

[Armagh18]

Who are the Messi and Ronaldo of GAA

McCurry and Murphy?

Ronaldo can be a bit of a dick but Jesus he's not as bad as Murphy!!

[AustinPowers]

Who are the Messi and Ronaldo of GAA

McCurry and Murphy?

Messi - Murnin/ McCarron/ Walsh?

Ronaldo - Aidan O'Shea

[tiempo]

O'Shea lol, some buck eejit too, between budgie smugglers and pot shots

Hard to look past McCarron for the Messi vibe, though would favour McCurry

[Puckoon]

Zlatan's greatest moment could be if he f**king roundhouses Alexi Lalas off the top deck of this stadium. Imagine being in the company of Rebecca Lowe, Thierry and then having to deal with Lalas.

He did call James Cordon a f**king w**ker on TV so not all bad!

Close. Full kit w**ker.

Oh yeah that makes more sense 

I was wondering why Rebecca Lowe was taking more offense to the word w**ker, than f**king!

That roundhouse is coming. The two lads have had enough of Lalas.

[Mourne Red]

Zlatan's greatest moment could be if he f**king roundhouses Alexi Lalas off the top deck of this stadium. Imagine being in the company of Rebecca Lowe, Thierry and then having to deal with Lalas.

He did call James Cordon a f**king w**ker on TV so not all bad!

Close. Full kit w**ker.

Oh yeah that makes more sense 

I was wondering why Rebecca Lowe was taking more offense to the word w**ker, than f**king!

That roundhouse is coming. The two lads have had enough of Lalas.

Zlatan got Lalas and Donovan a cracker from clip I seen after the France game

[From the Bunker]

Portugal doing well playing with 10 against Congo.

[AustinPowers]

Portugal doing well playing with 10 against Congo.

I was wondering who  was sent off. Then I got it ....

Martinez needs to grow a  pair. Portugal will do nothing  with Ronaldo starting. They  suffered the last Euros  too  because of it , and he's  doing it again

[JollyGreenGiant]

Imagine being in a position where you CANT take a player off.

When you consider the initial contribution of M'Bappe, Haaland, and Messi in their first games, Ronaldo shouldnt even be considered in the same breath as them.

The old Ronaldo fanboys wont be having that though.

[mrdeeds]

He should be suspended anyway. Disgraceful.

[Aaron Boone]

England's second team (subs) would be a good team in itself.  Great squad depth, one of the best in the tournament.

[Captain Obvious]

Will it be EASY for England tonight?