Meho Daejeon Ip Ryeon Rooney "Ronaldo is a friend but football is Messi"

In the 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League final, Lionel Messi (left) and Wayne Rooney are facing off. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] Wayne Rooney (35, Derby County), who holds the record for the most goals in the history of the England national football team (53 goals in 120 matches), evaluated Lionel Messi's football skills as superior in the so-called 'MeHo Debate' (the debate over who is better at football between Messi and Ronaldo).

On the 19th (local time), Rooney said in an interview with the UK's 'Sunday Times', "Despite my friendship with Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), I prefer Messi." He added, "Messi's game is different. I've talked about composure, but I've never seen Messi kick the ball with full force when scoring. Messi shoots with ease."

He continued, "When judging by who makes football more enjoyable, Messi is on top," and added, "If Ronaldo is a ruthless killer inside the box, Messi tortures the opposing defense before scoring. It's true that Messi's football is more entertaining."

Earlier, David Beckham, a former player of the English professional football team Manchester United, also supported Messi in an interview with Argentina's national news agency Telam, saying, "Messi is unique. It is impossible for a player to resemble Messi."

Javier Aguirre, who has managed the national football teams of Japan, Mexico, and Egypt, also summarized in an interview with ESPN FC that "Messi and Ronaldo are completely different players." Aguirre said, "Both are difficult players to stop. I tried everything to stop Messi. I tried man-to-man marking, double marking, and even kicking him away. But Messi could not be stopped," especially praising Messi.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.