Who is better: Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?
The debate over which of these dynamic superstars is the greatest soccer player in the world has raged on for years with each man giving his own supporters reasons to believe that he is the better of the two.
But one man has already made up his mind. That man is Usain Bolt and he has declared that Cristiano Ronaldo is the greater of the two players.
"No doubt Cristiano is better than Messi. He is a more complete player," the world's greatest sprinter told Portuguese channel RTP. "I would give [the Ballon d'Or] to Cristiano. He has managed to stay on top and that's the most difficult thing."
Of course the words of the historic Olympian may be a bit biased. He has after all expressed his desire to tryout for Ronaldo's old team Manchester United. And he also has a relationship with the Portuguese striker. The two men trained to together back in 2009 as Bolt gave Ronaldo some sprinting tips, a fact he has not forgotten.
"Since I taught Ronaldo in 2009 he has gone on to score 40 goals a season, I don't think he would have scored them all without my training," said Bolt.
Ronaldo is currently losing the Ballon d'Or race to Messi, who was voted by FIFA as the world's greatest player in 2009, 2010, and 2011. He won second place in the voting in 2008, when Ronaldo won the coveted trophy. The Portuguese striker has won second place in the tally for four years, including the three in which Messi won first place.
The discussion is rather timely as La Liga gets underway this weekend with both Messi and Ronaldo slated for action with their respective clubs. Messi's Barcelona plays on Sunday August 19th against Real Sociedad at 3 PM ETD while Ronaldo's Read Madrid plays their first match on that same day at 1PM ETD.