How Controversy's Favourite Child Cristiano Ronaldo Lost the GOAT Race to Selfless King Lionel Messi

Widely regarded as two of the greatest footballers of all-time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have often tried to outsmart each other on the pitch. The Portugal and Argentina captains also hold a clutch of world records in the sport. But the two differ vastly in terms of their attitude towards fans and life in general.

"For me, Messi has the edge over Ronaldo because when we think about him, words like loyalty, sportsmanship, and goodwill always come to mind. Unlike CR7 who continues to tarnish his image with his stupid acts," Mehtab Hossain, an Indian professional footballer, says.

Last week, Cristiano Ronaldo was in the news for the wrong reasons as he smashed a young Everton fan's mobile phone on the ground after Manchester United's 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

But this wasn't the first time CR7 made the headlines for an act which could easily be labelled as deplorable.

As per football website Goal.com, Ronaldo is a player who's "obsessed with his own performances" and his behaviour and attitude off the pitch reeks of "arrogance".

This is contrary to his on-field brilliance where he looks in complete control of the proceedings, especially when he's on song.

He brawls with rival teams' players, engages in verbal arguments with match officials, takes digs at the sport's supporters and even shows his frustration during games. His antics have even been criticised by his former Old Trafford teammate Rio Ferdinand in recent days.

In the past, he has been accused of serious offences like raping an American woman in Las Vegas in 2009, something he has strongly denied.

Recent developments in the case suggest that the Man United ace's lawyers even threatened the alleged victim Kathryn Mayorga with "public exposure" and "humiliation" if she continued to assist law enforcement agencies in the investigation of the case.

This is what possibly separates him from Lionel Messi, who has had an uncontroversial career so far. Even if the Argentine has been embroiled in controversies, theyr'e nothing like the kind CR7 has been involved in.

After all, you couldn't imagine Messi slamming a fan's phone to the ground. But Ronaldo is Ronaldo and has had a chequered history of such discreditable incidents.

This is where, Messi seems to be head and shoulders above him in the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) race. Perhaps, qualities like selflessness, beauty and elegance do play their own part in this debate.

However, the one argument which goes against Barcelona's top scorer is that Messi hardly speaks on controversial matters, unlike Ronaldo, who openly shares his views.

As recently as February, the ex-Juventus hitman made an emotional appeal for ending Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Messi, on the other hand, hasn't said a word on the matter.

Coming back to football, aside from goals, assists are the barometer of a footballer's utility as a team player, and Messi has clearly demonstrated this ability.

This fact can be easily assessed through his sheer number of assists. Messi holds the world record for the most official recorded assists in football history, with 328 assists in 966 appearances. His eternal rival Ronaldo has only 230 assists in 1,114 for both club and country.

Despite the contrast in Messi and Ronaldo's figures, former India midfielder Syed Rahim Nabi, who played for Atletico de Kolkata in the country's top domestic football tournament, the Indian Super League (ISL), argued in favour of him, saying that controversies can't diminish what he's achieved in the game.

Moreover, he even questioned people who put too much emphasis on doing the "right" things, especially if you were a sports star as popular as Ronaldo was.

He even claimed that not all of the Funchal-born football star's controversies were bad for the public at large.

"If you remember, last year's Coca Cola controversy was all about promoting good health as he wanted the world's youth to shun aerated drinks and choose water instead," Nabi told Sputnik.

His former colleague in the national team, Mehtab Hossain, though didn't agree with his views as he claimed that a top footballer is a role model for youngsters and that's why he should always propagate good practices.

"Just imagine how a 12 or 14-year-old would react to the news of his favourite player being arrested on charges of rape," Hossain told Sputnik.