If you want to start a war, ask football fans to choose between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Over here, we do usually like violence, so we decided to ask these Nigerian men to pick their football faves and tell us why. The shade was plenty, but these are some of the answers they gave us. 

Ryan, 33

I hate both of them, but let me start with all the reasons I can’t stand that short man devil, Messi. First off, he has scored countless goals against my team, Arsenal, including a hattrick. I also hate the fact that his stans continue to suck him off even though he hasn’t won a Champions League without Xavi and Iniesta. He is currently fighting for his life in a farmers’ league right now, but FIFA and the media keep giving him awards to support their propaganda that he is the greatest footballer. 

I admire Ronaldo, but I’m not a fan. I only support him because doing so makes Messi stans angry. 

Bolu, 20 

Ronaldo is a finished player abeg. Can’t you see what he’s playing for Manchester United? It’s rubbish. He’s just staying there for no reason and you can tell he’s the type of player that wants everything to rotate around him. I prefer Messi because he’s a more technical player. When you see Messi playing, you can tell that he knows what he’s doing. He knows how to dribble better, pass better and finish better. As a whole, Messi’s a better team player, but Ronaldo is very lazy — he only knows how to score. Even if Messi has not been scoring goals this season, he impacts and assists his other teammates. 

Mikey, 28

Ronaldo all the way Most people underrate the guy because what he does looks easy, but he’s killing it day in, day out. A lot of players have tried hard to keep up with Ronaldo when it comes to goals and finesse, and they’ve all failed. People say Messi is effortless and it’s “God-given talent”, but what is talent without hard work? So far, Ronaldo has conquered Spain, Italy, England and Portugal. Has Messi achieved something like that? No, he was too comfortable in Spain and even the PSG he plays for now, he has been terrible with like one goal in about 20 games. That’s very poor. 

Tochukwu, 30 

Messi is clearly the best footballer ever! Ronaldo does a lot of work before he gets results, but Messi is pure, God-given talent. Nobody has ever been or will ever be like Messi. The guy scores goals, makes goals and dribbles — he makes football a beautiful sport to watch. Ronaldo is good, but Messi is a notch higher and the greatest footballer the world has ever seen. I dare say he’s greater than Maradona, Pele and Zidane.. 

Danjuma, 23

Ronaldo is better on and off the pitch. Yes, Ronaldo is a good player, but even outside football, he has a personality that’s just lit AF. Outside football, Messi is a dead guy. We all know Messi can play well, but I also think he’s overrated because he has fans that see whatever he does as something spectacular. Messi is nothing without his fanbase. For Ronaldo, I can justify why I think he’s great. Numbers don’t lie and he’s proven it. But like I said, outside the pitch, he’s also scoring because he’s a bigger public figure, and he has hacked how to interact with his fans. 

Oche, 26 

Messi over Ronaldo every day. Messi has more goals and assists than Ronaldo when we look at their goals-to-game ratio. In 2012 alone, Messi scored over 90 goals, a feat neither Ronaldo or any other player has been able to achieve. For anyone getting into football for the first time, Messi is more entertaining to watch, and finally, he doesn’t have rape allegations hovering over him. 

Chuma, 28

Ronaldo for sure because that guy is the GOAT among the two of them. Don’t get me wrong, Messi is brilliant, but what Ronaldo does is amazing. Ronaldo has that edge because he can walk into any league, any team and still kill it. Messi on the other hand has fewer goals than Werner this season. Plus, I don’t know how you can call the guy with the most goals in the world “overrated”.