Wayne Rooney vs Cristiano Ronaldo vs Kaka vs Lionel Messi

Let's have some fun guys. Who do you think is the best among this awesome footballers: Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Lionel Messi.

Wayne Rooney
Age: 23
Position: Forward
Club: Manchester United

United's very own Roy of the Rovers, Rooney made his mark in Manchester with a stunning Champions League hat-trick in a 6-2 thrashing of Fenerbahce, which included a beautifully flighted free-kick.

Rooney, who is set to make his 50th Champions League appearance for United on Wednesday, already has a considerable medal collection having helped the Old Trafford club to three Premier League titles, the Champions League and the Club World Cup - to name but a few.

The former Everton player has the ability to terrorise defences with his speed, strength and vision, and he is equally adept at tackling and tracking back.

Arguably a genius in the making, an incendiary element to his character is the only flaw in his well-rounded game. His kicking of a corner flag at Craven Cottage following his sending off in a 2-0 defeat to Fulham in March merely illustrates this. If he can follow Kipling's advice and keep his head, Rooney will have the world at his feet.

Rating: 7/10.

Watch Rooney on YouTube

Kaká
Age: 27
Position: Forward
Club: Real Madrid.

The Fifa 2007 World Player of the Year had the Midas touch at Milan and helped the Rossoneri win the Champions League in the same season, scoring 10 goals during the tournament. He may not have the blistering pace of a Cristiano Ronaldo, but Kaká can see the game from a bird's eye perspective and is as much a creator of goals as a supreme finisher.

After completing his £68.5 million move to Real Madrid in the summer, the Brazilian will be keen to impress again in a World Cup season.

Rating: 8/10.

Watch Kaká on YouTube

Cristiano Ronaldo
Age: 24
Position: Forward
Club: Real Madrid.

A player who is just as fast with or without the ball at his feet, Ronaldo can leave the best defenders with twisted blood.

The Portuguese, who scooped two Football Writer's Player of the Year awards and a brace of PFA accolades during his time in England, helped Manchester United win the Champions League in 2008 with the opening goal in their defeat of Chelsea.

Crowned Fifa World Player of the Year for 2008 with the Ballon d'Or already in his possession, the one remaining trophy that Ronaldo would dearly love to get his hands on is the World Cup.

Rating: 9/10.

Watch Ronaldo on YouTube

Lionel Messi
Age: 22
Position: Forward
Club: Barcelona.

The catalyst for Barcelona's Champions League triumph over Manchester United last season, this diminutive genius would appear to be the safest bet for this year's Fifa World Player of the Year.

One of a string of Argentine players to have been compared to the great Diego Maradona - and the first to deserve such comparisons - Messi seemingly sows his boot to the ball as he fillets opposition defences.

Proclaimed to be the best in the world by none other than England manager Fabio Capello, Messi may not be the greatest goal scorer, but he is a scorer of great goals.

Rating: 9/10.

Watch Messi on YouTube

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Should Barcelona let Eto’o go?

While Real Madrid were tying up their deal to sign Kaka from AC Milan, Barcelona seemed curiously ambivalent about the possibility of losing one of their big-name players, the  Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o .
The 28-year-old has a contract until 2010 when he will be able to leave free of cost, unless an extension can be agreed or the club decide to cash in on him now.

The first meeting to discuss the issue between his agent Jose Maria Mesalles and Barca’s sports director Txiki Begiristain, took place on Monday with very little seemingly resolved.

“The technical staff and the representative have met to try and agree a period of continuity, which is what we would like,” Barca president Joan Laporta said on the club website.

Mesalles said no renewal proposal had been forthcoming so far, but insisted Eto’o wanted to continue.

He was quoted in Spanish media as saying: “We are open to every possibility. If we have to look at a renewal we will study it, but if there is another possibility we will study that too.”

Inter Milan and Manchester City have been linked with interest for Eto’o, while Barca are reported to have considered a swap deal involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and moves for Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlan or Olympique Lyon’s Karim Benzema*, or maybe even Bayern Munich;s Luca Toni.

But why would they not want to hang on to a player who scored 30 goals in the Primera Liga last season and netted the opener in their Champions League final victory over Manchester United?

Media reports have suggested there are differences over the terms of a renewal, and that coach Pep Guardiola may want a different style of striker to lead the line along with Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi.
Perhaps Barca’s greatest fear is that if they cannot meet the player’s demands on an improved contract, or convince him to take up an offer from another club, he could just walk away from them next year denying them a substantial payday.

It is an issue that is unlikely to be resolved quickly, as Mesalles recognised: “The market is open until August 31 and anything can happen before then.”

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Samuel Etoo scores against Deportivo Coruna during their league match in Coruna May 30, 2009. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal


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Rich Gladiators show off their logos at the Stadio Olimpico

Boot-iful: Lionel Messi toasts Barca's winning goal by celebrating with his new Adidas boots at the dismay of fellow Three Stripes endorser Edwin Van der Sar

It was a Roman contest with a 21st Century twist. A fierce gladiatorial battle but the chosen weapons were 'Flywire' technology and 'Sprintskin' fabrics, not spears and daggers.
Lionel Messi's twinkling toes were encased in his brand new adidas F50i, cyan and black, customised boots, bearing an image of the European Cup and the date.
Cristiano Ronaldo strutted confidently in a pair of Nike Mercurial Vapor Superfly, the lightest and fastest football boots known to man, according to their manufacturers.

Like a James Bond movie, the Champions League final is not complete without another wave of state-of-the-art sporting gadgets and designs. 

This game, beamed around the world, is the extreme example of why Manchester United, Barcelona and their players command huge sums of money to carry a certain logo.

Last year's final was an epic clash of Nike-sponsored United against adidas-backed Chelsea. Both were relieved to find the fall guys in the penalty shootout - Nicolas Anelka and John Terry - were wearing Puma and Umbro.

Last night was something of a Nikefest and they celebrated by decorating flagship stores with a 'Great men made Rome great' image featuring Nike wearers in the final, like Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta.


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Doubts about Eto'o future

 

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said "it would be nice that Eto'o retires here," though he warned. "There could be a surprise." 

 

Joan Laporta, who insisted on the fact that all the topics related to the season planning lie in the hands of sporting director Txiki Beguiristain and coach Pep Guardiola, he said Samuel Eto'o "is one of the players who always receives juicy offers."

Samuel Eto'o contract with Barcelona expires next season; so, if the Cameroonian player and the team fail to reach an agreement, he will be entitled to join any team he wishes as from January 1, 2010.

"We want him to stay with us, his contract is still in force and we hope he can accept a deal renewal," Laporta commented. He insisted that all sports decisions are made by the sporting director, so he won't reveal a fact. "I won't talk about anything that are not convenient."

When asked about whether Florentino Perez shocked the market with such a huge offer for Kaka, Laporta said. "Barcelona will stick to the same policy, regardless of any decision made."

"Our advantage is that the players take Barcelona as a point of reference because of all the titles we've earned recently, I say it with all respect," Laporta added. "We always try to play the player what he really deserves and what is fair for the team,"; He also stated that he feels proud of their policy, which is based on focusing on players coming from the junior divisions.

Barcelona hoping to overcome English domination

LONDON — Barcelona must guard against its form dipping at just the wrong time to prevent it challenging England's domination of the Champions League.

While defending champion Manchester United and Arsenal warmed up for Wednesday's semifinal meeting with weekend victories, Barcelona prepared for its European showdown with Chelsea by only narrowly avoiding a Spanish league defeat Saturday -- Thierry Henry scored with four minutes left for a 2-2 draw against Valencia.

The end of a seven-match winning streak was hardly ideal preparation for Tuesday's first-leg meeting with Chelsea, which continued its impressive form under temporary coach Guus Hiddink with a hard-fought 1-0 win at London rival West Ham 1-0.

But coach Pep Guardiola still thinks his relentlessly attacking team should be fine.

"We finished like bulls," Guardiola said. "We're a machine."

Many neutrals are hoping he's right and that Barcelona can get past last season's runner-up. England has provided nine of the past 12 Champions League semifinalists in an unprecedented domination of the continent's top club competition.

Tuesday's game at Camp Nou will go some way to proving whether Barcelona, which has scored 94 goals in 33 games to lead the Spanish league by seven points, is good enough to add a third European Cup title to its collection -- three years after its last.

"The best team in Europe," Hiddink said of Barcelona. "Or the world."

Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Henry, who scored 10 goals against Chelsea in his eight seasons with Arsenal, will line up again to pressure a defense missing suspended left back Ashley Cole and injured central defender Ricardo Carvalho.

With Carvalho out, Chelsea captain John Terry should play alongside Alex, with Branislav Ivanovic one of the contenders to replace Cole and attempt to shackle Messi.

"Whoever is playing against Messi will have a tremendous job to do because he is the most productive player in the world and one of the players you like to watch, except when you play him," Hiddink said.

Hiddink rested striker Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Alex at the weekend, only bringing on the midfield pair late to shore up the side.

The win kept Chelsea in contention for the Premier League title, although Manchester United and Liverpool are still ahead of the Blues. Chelsea's most likely route to a trophy this season appears to be the Champions League or next month's FA Cup final against Everton.

Manchester United's rivalry with Arsenal has been less intense in recent seasons as the Gunners have faded from contention for major honors.

But that could change when the teams go head-to-head at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

"There is more pressure on United because they are the team to beat," Arsenal defender Kolo Toure said. "United are the ones who won it last season, but for us we are going there to do the best we can playing free and passing the ball.

"We know when we play football against Manchester United, they struggle a lot."

United showed its attacking range when it rallied from 2-0 down at halftime to beat Tottenham 5-2 on Saturday, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney each scoring twice.

Arsenal is focused upon stopping Ronaldo, who scored in last season's final, with Toure suggesting 19-year-old midfielder Kieran Gibbs could be deployed to mark the Portugal winger.

"Let him play," Toure said. "He's a good player and very intelligent. He came in at a really difficult time when we play the big teams and I think he has showed good character.

"I think he is going to perform very well on Wednesday."

Ronaldo and Rooney are almost certain to start again against the Gunners, who had a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough on Sunday that was so straightforward that manager Arsene Wenger was able to replace captain Cesc Fabregas with more than 20 minutes remaining.

The key midfielder scored both his team's goals and could make use of the extra rest.

Toure is confident that his team can hold out against a United side making up for a shaky defense with some great attacking form.

"United are a really good team going forward, but, like us, at the back they have conceded a few goals," Toure said. "We have the same type of team: we both like to play, but sometimes you can be caught out at the back.

"The team that will win will be the one which defends the best."

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