With the group stages of the World Cup 2014 edition now almost entrenched in the history books with only a handful of games still to play, let’s take a break from naming some of the top players, most surprising packages and probably lineups and go in-depth about two very specific players. One is a 27-year-old from Argentina with the world at his feet, while the other is a 29-year-old Portuguese superstar with magic in his boots.
Lionel Messi is one of Argentina’s – and Barcelona’s – greatest players ever in many fans’ general opinion, and having just turned 27 on Tuesday he still has several years ahead of him at the top. He has spent his entire career thus far at Barcelona, all the way from the C team to the top tier – and continues to do the job for Argentina when he pulls on the famous shirt.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, has had a couple of transfers, with each being bigger than the last, and broke the world record transfer at the time when he moved to Real Madrid from Man Utd for £80m. He has been a regular feature in the Portugal side for years now, and is the incumbent captain. Despite some controversy on the field in the past he is regularly regarded right up there alongside Messi as one of the finest players in the world today.
These two are also the two most expensive players for our fantasy managers to get into their team, and at 21.00m each they do take up a hefty portion of the available budget – but that hasn’t stopped an impressive 22% of managers from taking Messi into their ranks, while only 8% have Ronaldo in there too – perhaps a somewhat wise decision at this stage, given Portugal’s precarious position at the bottom of Group G.
They need a massive turnaround in goal difference to stand any chance of catching up with Germany and USA, who occupy first and second in the group respectively. Ghana are level on points with Ronaldo’s team, with a single one to date, but are only two goals behind the States – a two-goal win over Portugal would see them advance should Germany beat USA. Ronaldo, however, will be looking to bust a groove and help his boys grab two or three goals in that game – a 3-0 win for Portugal would see them advance if Germany can beat USA by at least the same margin.
At this stage, however, the Iberians sitting on the brink of elimination seems to be enough to keep Ronaldo out of
many fantasy manager’s sides – and indeed the 29-year-old’s form in the cup to date may not have inspired our gaffers to rush out and get him in their sides – he has accumulated 10 points so far. It’s not a bad total considering it’s from two appearances, but comes from a single assist.
Messi, meanwhile, has torn down the house with a great 80 points to prove 22% of players right to stump up the hefty fee – he scored two goals prior to the game against Nigeria the day after his 27th birthday, at which time he went on to steal the show with a further brace before leaving the field, being subbed off for Alvarez on the 63 minute mark.
So, given form and potential longevity in the tournament, Messi definitely seems the better bet at this stage, but things can of course change – both sides could advance, and Portugal could last longer, in which case Ronaldo could obviously be the better inclusion, but that would be impossible to say for certain without some hindsight – and with the hindsight we do already have, at this stage, those who went for Messi are reaping far more benefits. This could, of course, go exactly the other way and Messi could continue his great form in an Argentina side that lasts longer than their European counterparts.
There are players with more points so far, but Messi is not a player than will let anyone down too often – if you are going for one of these two footballing giants, the recommendation would be to go for the 27-year-old Barcelona man right now. Considering he plies his international trade for one of the world’s top teams in Argentina, a good cup run is certainly within the realms of possibility, if not likelihood – he has time to secure the spot at the top of the Euro Fantasy League World Cup game points scoring tally, and he certainly has the ability too.
