Carlos Alberto Martínez Tevez (born 5 February 1984)^[2][3] is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Juventus. He has previously played for Manchester City, Boca Juniors, Corinthians, West Ham United andManchester United. He transferred to Manchester City from United in the 2009 summer transfer window, becoming the first player to move between the two rival clubs since Terry Cooke in 1999.^[4] His energy and goal scoring rate made him an indispensable player for the club in the eyes of fellow players and media alike.^[5][6]

In 2011, Tevez sought a transfer away from Manchester, citing family reasons and Sergio Agüero was drafted in as a replacement. His career has been dogged by a long-standing relationship with Media Sports Investment (along with Just Sport), the company which owned the rights of Tevez,^[7] and several other players and coaches.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} This eventually resulted in West Ham United being fined over issues regarding third-party ownership.^[13][14] He has made 62 appearances for theArgentina national team, scoring 13 goals.^[15]

Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi] ( listen); born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He serves as the captain of his country's national football team.

By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2009, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He followed this up by winning the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in2010, and then again in 2011 and 2012. He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. At the age of 24, Messi became Barcelona's all-time top scorer in all official club competitions. At age 25, Messi became the youngest player to score 200 goals in La Liga.

Commonly ranked as the best player in the world and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Messi is the first football player in history to win four FIFA/Ballons d'Or, all of which he won consecutively, as well as the first to win threeEuropean Golden Shoe awards. With Barcelona, Messi has won six La Ligas, two Copas del Rey, five Supercopas de España, three UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and two Club World Cups.

Messi is the first and only player to top-score in four consecutive Champions League campaigns, and also holds the record for themost hat-tricks scored (4) in the competition. In March 2012, Messi made Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match. He also matched José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single Champions League season. Messi set the European record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12 season, with 73 goals. In the same season, he set the current goalscoring record in a single La Liga season, scoring 50 goals. Also in that season, Messi became the first player ever to score and assist in six different official competitions in one season. On 16 February 2013, Messi scored his 300th Barcelona goal. On 30 March 2013, Messi scored in his 19th consecutive La Liga game, becoming the first footballer in history to net in consecutive matches against every team in a professional football league. He extended his record scoring streak to 21 consecutive league matches, and the run came to a halt only when he sustained a hamstring injury. In March 2014, with a hat-trick against Real Madrid, Messi became the player with the most goals and most hat-tricks in the history of El Clásico.

Messi helped Argentina win the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing as both the best player and the top scorer (with 6 goals). In2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play and score in the FIFA World Cup, and won a runners-up medal at the Copa América in 2007, in which he was named young player of the tournament. In 2008, he won an Olympic Gold Medal with theArgentina Olympic football team. In 2013, SportsPro rated him the second-most marketable athlete in the world.^[8] His playing style and stature have drawn comparisons to compatriot Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "successor".^[9]

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985), known asCristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and captains the Portugal national team. He became the world's most expensive player when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth £80 million (€94 million/$132 million). Ronaldo's contract with Real Madrid, under the terms of which he is paid €21 million per year (after taxes), makes him the highest-paid footballer in the world, and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion. He is regarded by some in the sport to be currently the best player in the world,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} and as one of the greatest of all time.^[8][9][10]

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo caught the attention of Manchester Unitedmanager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.2 million (€15 million) in 2003. In 2004, Ronaldo won his first club honour, theFA Cup.

In 2007, Ronaldo was the first player in England to win all four main PFA and FWA awards. In 2008 and 2013, he won theFIFA/Ballon d'Or award for the best footballer in the world, the first Portuguese player to win the award twice.^[11][12] He was awarded the European Golden Shoe in 2008, 2011 and 2014. In 2008, he won 3 of the 4 main PFA and FWA trophies and was named the FIFA World Player of the Year, FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, and the Onze d'Or.^[13][14][15] In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. He was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year in 2009. In a 2014 UEFA poll he was named the greatest goalscorer to play in the UEFA Champions League.^[16] With 67 goals he is tied second in the competition's top scorers of all time, only trailing Raúl by four goals.

Ronaldo is the first top European league player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years, fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 league goals, and the first player to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.^[17] He holds the record for most goals scored in a season for Real Madrid. In January 2014, Ronaldo scored his 400th career goal.^[18] After spending his first year at Madrid wearing the number 9 shirt, he began wearing the number 7 again following the departure of long-serving striker Raúl. Ronaldo had previously worn the number 7 shirt at Manchester United.

Ronaldo is a Portuguese international and made his debut in August 2003. He has been capped over 100 times and with 50 goals he is Portugal's top goalscorer of all time. With Portugal he has participated in 6 major tournaments; UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first international goal in the opening game of Euro 2004 against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He took over captaincy in July 2008 and captained them to the Euro 2012 semi-finals finishing the competition as joint-top scorer.