5 Reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo is the Greatest of All Time

4. Single-minded Will-to-Win

Lionel Messi is arguably the most gifted player of all time. Let us get that out there... there has been no one so naturally at home with a ball at his feet and if this was just a question of footballing magic, the answer would always be Messi. But it is not. The mere fact that we are even having this discussion in the era of Messi shows you just how good Ronaldo is.

This is not to discount the Portuguese’ wizardry on the ball... few people before him, if any at all, have been able to do the things he could at full speed when he was in his absolute physical prime. Those step-overs, those cutbacks, those leaving-defenders-on-their-backsides swerves – they were things of immense beauty. But as age caught up, he changed, he adapted his game... like Rio Ferdinand said:

He liked taking liberties when he first came, taking people on, making people look silly and doing skills before coming back to beat them again.

His whole thing when he first signed was about showmanship, he'd listen to the fans when he'd do that bit of skill, when he'd do that step-over.

Whereas then there was that turning point around that time when it was about goals, assists. Then he became the game-changer, rather than the showman. That's that maturity and the penny dropping."

And that’s when he really started on that inexorable march towards Greatness. Like the ever-incisive Amartojit Basu says it, “He is inspiration personified, he is the will to win, he is desire, he is commitment and he is ambition”. His ego has ensured that he has done everything, everything, necessary to ensure he remains at the forefront of the G.O.A.T debate – and he has succeeded.

Also, Read – Selfishness – the ‘virtue’ that fuels the greatness of Cristiano Ronaldo