Since the emergence of social media, the topic of who is the greatest in their chosen profession or sport has been a constant debate, some of it more rigorously than others. Given the popularity of football, you will barely get through a week without people arguing over who is better out of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but it would be wrong to claim that it is a closed shop with other players deserving to hold that tag from years gone by.
In the build-up to the World Cup, Betway took a different approach to making a judgment on the topic, asking five actual goats to reach a conclusion on who is their own GOAT of football. As well as Messi and Ronaldo naturally appearing as choices, Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane were all options for the quintet of animals, who were in a pen with mannequins of the five global stars available for selection.
As you can probably appreciate, this was not the most scientific and orderly of studies. In fact, as you can see from the Betway video, chaos inevitably ensued as the goats became preoccupied when also handling the responsibility of making such an important choice. Red cards even had to be handed out in a bid to restore some kind of peace and order between the participants, but that was far easier said than done.
© Reuters
On a serious note, all five players have claims to be regarded as football's GOAT. The likes of Messi and Ronaldo have 12 Ballon d'Ors, nine Champions League crowns and over 1500 goals for club and country between them, and they are both trying to further add to their impenetrable legacies by winning the World Cup with Argentina and Portugal respectively.
The remaining trio of Pele, Maradona and Zidane have all played pivotal roles in their nations lifting the Jules Rimet trophy during their playing days, and supporters of their eras will naturally opt for one of the legendary threesome over the likes of Messi and Ronaldo. Nevertheless, the debate will naturally rumble on in the years and decades to come, particularly if the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland continue to fulfil their potential.
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