For many football fans across the world, Sunday, December 18, 2022 marked the end of an era. More than a decade-old debate about who the football GOAT is arguably climaxed at a pricey victory for the Messi-led Argentine squad against the French in the 2022 FIFA world cup final in Lusail, Qatar which ended in a 3-3 draw and penalty shootout in favour of Argentina.
The GOAT debate for or against Christiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi which has been predicated on the heroic exploits and several years of consistent outrunning between these two great players ostensibly shifted in favour of Messi after the Argentine center-forward eventually led his team to clinch the world cup which had been the single most important achievement that had eluded the two players.
However, some have argued that while winning a world cup is no doubt an important achievement, it is definitely not the only parameter that could be used to define the GOAT; rather, the GOAT debate is one that should be analyzed holistically across different spheres of influence of the players in view.
In that regard, Sunday Oliseh, sport analyst and Nigerian Super eagle’s former defensive midfielder reportedly told Arise TV on Monday that if the GOAT debate must be based on world-cup titles, that would mean cancelling Messi or Ronaldo off the picture and giving the honour to Pele who has won the title for his country 3 times, the highest since the history of the game. Based on this premise, the Nigerian declared Pele the GOAT.
Comparative analysis is seldom overlooked in soccer, often oscillating between facts and values. This alternation of facts and values however makes the argument holistic, interesting and enduring. Therefore, the GOAT debate between Ronaldo and Messi may not end any time soon until the exploits of both characters fade into a mythical reference in the book of history in many generations to come. Consequently, the distant posterity of each of the players shall depend more on story-tellers than on the actual reality.
Between the two players, one is defined as an epitome of grace and the other a symbol of grit; one dazzles through his opposition, creating chances with bewildering rapidity, the other invariably converts chances to great counts with clinical finish. Therefore, the side of the debate one favours may depend on one’s personal values, philosophy or experience.
Some also base their assessment of the two footballers on markers beyond the field of play. On this track, Ronaldo is considered as the more travelled and influential footballer with multicultural experiences and he is said to have the highest number of followers worldwide on the social media.
No doubt, both Christiano Ronaldo and Messi have had remarkable years pushing the trajectory of the round leather game apart from the time of Pele and Maradona, another pair of football legends that is often included in the GOAT debate. But unlike Ronaldo and Messi who are contemporaries, Pele and Maradona played at different points in time which arguably renders the comparison of the latter less valid or relevant than the former.
I did not witness Pele and Maradona play real time but I met history and I could not but give it to Maradona who’s not only closer to my generation but also impressionably had his name squeezed into the general English vocabulary that I was exposed to as a teenager. I could remember one of my early school teachers was fond of using the phrase ‘’maradonic attitude’’ whenever he wanted to discipline us.
Though also a pro-Pele, Sam Omotseye in his article titled ‘’At his Feet’’ gracefully explore the heroic exploits of Diego Armando Maradona, liking his solo-dribbles and aerial larceny to the character of Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida in the Nigerian political terrain of the 1980s. Some of his words conjure the image of a mythical figure:
The story of his life was told within four minutes in 1986. He scored a goal with a hand. While many were panty over a cheat, he dazzled with honesty…
The British press called him the Argentine thief. He said it was a holy, transcendental moment in soccer. So he said it was the ‘’hand of God’’.
In the words of Peter Abelard of the age of Transformation, God became man. But his hand was Satan, his feet divine. Rather than punishment, he earned victory. Rather than infamy, he found redemption, a golden boot and a world cup trophy.
His aerial larceny became a lance on England’s skin. The thief handed England a humiliation He became a Barabbas of Soccer. He got absolution without confession, or he let out confession as defiance.
As the era of Messi and Ronaldo gradually evolves to an end, nature’s continuity blesses us with another bright star to look forward to, Kyllian Mbappe, a very vibrant and compelling force that could pass as the hybrid of Messi and Ronaldo. In the Final yesterday against the Argentines, Kyllian was both the playmaker and the goal machine.
