![[ESPNFC] Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Neymar Jr’s International Stats.](https://alien.top/pictrs/image/bf00c9e0-8bde-4828-8b67-c9b1eb3f2bb4.webp){kind=link}
Neymar & Messi are clear of Ronaldo. It’s a shame injuries take Ney out of the conversation of the best ever
I don’t want to sound like a hater, but without looking at the specific data, I’m pretty sure Ronaldo scored tons of goals against teams like Faroe, Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, etc…
Ronaldo never had finishers around him like Neymar and Messi. They’ve played with some absolute talent at Argentina and Brazil when compared to Portugal.
Always playing victim as if Portugal aren’t always filled with talent and underachieving. Portugal screwing up is their fault. They have had world class players before and even today have one of the most stacked teams in international football
Yeah, Messi and Neymar are so lucky. Ronaldo is stuck with bums like Checks notes Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leao, Joao Cancelo and Checks notes again Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, Bruno Fernandez…
lol he didnt have these dudes on portugal with him until he was 37/38 years old. he won the euro in 2016 with players like joao mario and nani up front with him
Neymar thinks he’s on the team
38 of those goals was against Luxembourg or at the very least it feels like it… y u always gotta destroy us cristiano :(
A healthy Neymar would have won a Ballon d’Or
I genuinely think he would have easily become the 2nd best player in your history if he never left Barca. Can’t think of a more perfect replacement for Messi. He really should have never left Barca
Neymar now holds the record for most international assists after his assist against Venezuela.
Landon Donovan had 58, and there was a post on here last month that didn’t show anybody else who had more.
Add to that, the fact that he faced mighty opposition in CONCACAF, like Barbados, Belize and El Salvador…
So what’s you’re saying is Donovan > Neymar Jr.?
People take for granted Ronaldo’s stats but Portugal was not a football superpower that people think they might be today. Even today, they lack severely in defense and attacking options at the very top compared to teams like Argentina, Poland (currently under-performing) and Brazil.
It’s shocking that he and his team won the Euros at any point given Portugal have barely been an international side in all of their history.
This is some next level crazzy take… Portugal were never powerhouses, but they have allways been competitive in the Ronaldo era, the early 90’s and 80’s were portugal weakest years, then we had Figo’s generation leading up to Ronaldo. Its just stupid comparing them to poland just cuz they have Lewa upfront .
??? Portugal have been an international side since 1921, and have placed in the top three at the 1966 WC, 1984 euros, 2000 euros, and got second in 2004. They aren’t Germany or Brazil, but it’s not like they’re Iceland. They’ve long been respectable.
Just to note, some of ESPN’s statistics aren’t Opta based, so I don’t know exactly where they got their data from (probably Transfermarkt).
Opta stats:
Ronaldo has 34 assists, not 45.
Messi had 53 assists, not 56.
Neymar has 58 assists, not 59.
I’ve heard Lewandowski, Modric, Benzema, Suarez all have a better claim to 3rd greatest player of this generation over Neymar. Laughable. If you look at stats he passes with flying colors and if you do the eye test he passes with flying colors. He didn’t fulfill his potential I agree, but people talk as if he’s a complete failure.
tbh imo even Neuer has a better claim of being the 3rd greatest of this generation over lewa, modric, benz and suarez
People push this narrative of him “not fulfilling his potential” I just dont follow. He’s all time top scorer for Brazil and ahead of Roando and Messi for assists! How, by any metric, is that unfulfilled potential? He’s been the heart of several lackluster Brazilian sides but really can’t do much more. The diving just pisses people off, which I get.
History will treat him better.The Barça’s Neymar yes, PSG’s Neymar not even close. He seems to deal better when he has better company to put him into confortable positions close to the box from the left (who would’ve guessed), but in Brazil and PSG they insisted to make him a 10 and he absolutely sucks in that position
Astonishing this. Literally every part of this comment is wrong.
Why do people have such strong opinions about players they clearly didn’t watch?
Idk what part of my opinion was “strong”, i’ve watched Neymar since his debut in Brazil as he played for my team here and i’m saying that he is a winger that finish the play, not a midfielder as he has been playing in NT and sometimes in PSG. Or you’re read my coment wrong or is too much sensible
The entire comment. Starting with saying he was a better player at Barça than he was at PSG (he was not, not even close) and then describing him as a player who needed players to supply him the ball in the final 3rd and then finishing off with saying he couldn’t play as a 10. Every single part of that comment was nonsense.
The best version of Neymar, the one we’ve seen at his peak playing for Brazil and PSG and who we got flashes of at Barça, has always been the one who had the freedom to be the team’s main playmaker. Even in Barça times we could see it. The Neymar we got at Barça was great, but he was limited by having to play a secondary role to Messi. Fewer opportunities to playmake and more responsibility of having to provide width and depth and make runs in behind. The Neymar we saw during every international break was the real Neymar. A devastating playmaker and dribbler and easily the 2nd best creative fulcrum (next to Messi) there’s been in the past 15 years.
Not a single person who actually watches Neymar thinks of him as someone who thrives best being on the end of chances. What you’re describing is a player like Mbappé or Cristiano.
Neymar won UCL and Libertadores, scoring in both finals and being ucl top scorer as a winger. He was fast, great dribbling and finishing with a shot or assist. Neymar as a 10 has no stats to back him, poor performance in UCL KOs except for 1 year and a mid performance with Brazil NT, he carries the ball to much and loses possession all the time as well as wasting many attacking chances by simpy not passing the ball, also can consistenly ping passes like Messi in this role. As a winger He was much more like a Ribery than a Mbappe or Cristiano, and was great at it, if we had a proper 10 in the build up with him in his natural position he would be 3x the player he has been
I’m not saying he wasn’t best as a winger, I’m saying he was best as a winger who with the freedom to be his team’s main playmaker. That’s the way he played in that Libertadores win, in almost his entire Brazil career, in Barça whenever Messi was out and at PSG.
That’s a difference from how he played as winger in that Barça treble season (where he was great, no doubt but that treble was about the entire front 3 fittin together and Messi having his peak season. Neymar himself had far from reached his best level). If anything during that treble season should be a reference for the best version of Neymar it’s the way Messi player in that free winger role. Receive the ball early and have all the freedom to dribble, pass, shoot, etc while other players are tasked with being at the end of your chances.
And as for him not being able to play the 10, look back one year. He’s done it for stretches in his career but that PSG stretch before the WC he was playing some of his best football ever pretty much all from that left 10 position.
I’m not downplaying Ronaldo, but I feel as if 178 goals or 128 goals against countries like Brazil/Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia or Ecuador (specially in the heights) are “worth” much more than goals scored against the likes of Luxemburgo or Malta.
Its probably just bias, but a factor worth considering regardless, considering how much tighter Conmebol is (also applies to Suarez I feel)
Neymar with Brazil was nuts
Sadly for all his efforts he hasn’t won anything for Brazil. Not even a Copa America
He won two olympic games.
I would say neymar is the best international player ever after ronaldo, messi is probably a close 3rd
I want to see their stats in major international tournaments.
In competitive internationals:
Messi: 124 Games, 57 Goals, 37 Assists, 94G/A, 0.46 goals per game, 0.76 G/A per game.
Ronaldo: 151 Games, 107 Goals, 25 assists, 132 G/A, 0.71 goals per game, 0.87 G/A per game.
Neymar: 58 Games, 33 Goals, 29 assists, 62 G/A, 0.57 goals per game, 1.07 G/A per game.
alá o chupa cu do neymar
Remove friendlies, it’s funnier than this.
Add wc nockout goals too