In a World Without Messi and Ronaldo

Football has seen some great players over the course of years. From Pele and Maradona to Ronaldo (Brazilian) and Zidane , from Beckham to current stars Messi and Ronaldo. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both are gifted with amazing qualities, their ability to score 50 odd goals every season is impeccable, making other great players look ordinary in the way they play. They have set such high standards for other players that even coming close to achieving it is next to impossible. But say hypothetically a football world exists without Ronaldo and Messi. In such a world, which players could have dominated this world?

Here is the list of plausible top 5 players with ability to rule the football world in the absence if Cristiano Ronald and Lionel Messi.

Ibrahimović is the leading goal scorer for Swedish national team with 56 goals and his league winning success rate is unmatched, having won the Eredivisie with Ajax Serie A with Inter Milan, La Liga with Barcelona and the Ligue 1 with PSG.

He is the first player to score for six clubs in the Champions League. The number of and type of goals he had scored is unparalleled. Ibrahimović has scored from distance, through free kicks, headers, overhead kicks, back-heels and a whole lot of techniques that hasn’t been given a name yet. A man of his caliber is surely a match winner. His record at PSG is outstanding, netting 75 goals in just 91 matches. As for the Swedish National team, he’s their one man army.

The world record transfer Welshman is criticized mostly for under-performing and not justifying his price tag at Real Madrid but there is no doubt about his abilities. Though it’s harsh on him, he’s a perfect example of getting overshadowed by someone like Cristiano Ronaldo. His performance in his last season for Spurs was exceptional, netting 31 goals in all competition which made Real Madrid lure him away and his current performance for Wales is equally good. Given the proper opportunity, the Welshman can unleash his true ability at Real Madrid.

The Uruguayan is one of the best strikers available today in the market. In 2013/14 he scored 31 goals in 33 appearances for Liverpool, the only player to reach thirties for Liverpool since Torres in 2007/08. And he wasted no time after serving his suspension, scoring 16 goals in just 25 games. He has an excellent record for Uruguay, scoring 43 goals in 82 app, making him all time record goal scorer.

Eden Hazard has been very influential for the League winners Chelsea, and was awarded PFA Player of the Year for last season’s performance. His quick feet, dazzling runs and low centre of gravity make him difficult to handle for defenders, making him the most fouled player in Europe. Under Mourinho’s guidance he has shown significant improvement and promises to do so which made him arguably the best in BPL last year.

The Brazilian had been long compared to the player like Ronaldinho, due to his armoury of tricks. His performance in the World Cup was remarkable, carrying Brazil single handedly to the semi-finals and his absences was clearly felt when Brazil faced a shameful defeat against Germany.

Neymar also contributed largely in the Barcelona’s Champions League campaign scoring 10 times, which was joint-top with Messi and Ronaldo and went on to became the first ever player to score in both the ties of quarter finals and semi-finals and in final as well. He is still just 23 years old, so he has time on his side and with consistency and experience he can go on to become one of the Greats.