The beautiful game of football has never been in want of stars and exceptional talents who have given its fans head-scratching and jaw-dropping moments; but many will agree that none of the stars, past, and present has accomplished the feats of Messi and Ronaldo. No one even comes close in terms of consistency and longevity. Both living legends played for the two biggest clubs in the world and changed the game forever. Every El Classico made the sporting world standstill. For nine straight years, they faced each other in La Liga, a few times in the Champions League, and both achieved immortality in the game. To a football fan, watching Messi and Ronaldo single-handedly win games for their respective teams is almost as thrilling and rewarding as gambling on UK Online Casino. They almost always leave their fans wanting more of their brilliance and wishing every game they played ran longer than it did.
With both Messi and Ronaldo well into the twilight of their careers, eyes are on a few youngsters who have shown incredible potential to take the baton from the two giants. When football pundits and fans dive into this discussion, there are several names thrown in the mix but regardless of everyone’s preference about the style of play and football philosophy, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are heads and shoulders above everyone else in terms of footballing ability, drive, statistics, and accolades.
Whatever a team coach and the football club as a whole want in a forward, these two youngsters have proven several times that they have it in bulk. There is very little to say to separate them, it only boils down to preference. Kylian, already a world cup winner, is lightning-fast and very skillful with probably a better pass accuracy than the Norwegian beast. Haaland is a pure world-class striker with a goal-scoring instinct that one can only describe as genius-level because of his positioning and timing in and outside the box.
They are both extremely pacey, but most importantly, they know when to make runs, how and when to shoot the ball. They both have strong feet, but they can still control and finish with their weaker foot when the opportunity presents itself. Compared to Mbappe, Haaland is more of an aerial threat and more physical, habitually bullying defenders who have had years of experience in the game. On the other hand, the French forward plays to his strength as a technical player with unmatched acceleration and speed. On their day, which is almost every match, both of them are match winners and nightmares for defenders.
At their age, even Messi and Ronaldo didn’t have such incredible stats, especially in goal-scoring terms. However, what separates Messi and Ronaldo from other world-class players is consistency and dedication to the game. It’s unclear whether Mbappe and Haaland will show such attributes after many years into their careers. Recently, both of them have been strongly linked to Real Madrid, but many neutral fans of the game would prefer if they didn’t end up on the same team. This will set the stage, hopefully for another lengthy individual rivalry between two incredible talents, which will definitely mirror the incredible events in the rivalry we’ve all enjoyed between Messi and Ronaldo for more than a decade.
Heaven forbid long-term injuries or unforeseen personal struggles delay their careers, they are both on a fast trajectory to be future multiple Ballon D’Or winners and lay legitimate claim to the soon-to-be-vacant throne of the best that the beautiful game has to offer in the new era.
