Is this a big deal in the U.S.?

Not like over here, I imagine.

It seems as if the Old World — well, and South America, too — is divided into two camps.

One side prefers Cristiano Ronaldo (and nearly always his club, also, Real Madrid).

The other prefers Lionel Messi (and his club, Barcelona).

The argument does not respect national borders. It penetrates every society and divides neighbors, families, spouses, brothers, identical twins.

And we have a resource here, who addresses the either/or of the greatest soccer rivalry in this decade.

That would be Diego Forlan, the stylish and productive Uruguayan forward, formerly of Manchester United and Atletico Madrid, who writes a comment piece each week for The National.

In this one, he breaks down the Ronaldo-versus-Messi debate.

It is really quite handy that about the only thing these guys have in common is an ability to score lots of goals for very good teams.

Messi is slight and small and quicker; Ronaldo is much bigger and powerful and stronger.

Messi seems shy and almost reticent; Ronaldo looks like he would be the biggest personality in any room.

Messi looks perpetually rumpled; he may have slept in that uniform. Ronaldo appears to spend enormous amounts of time on his appearance. Vanity oozes out of him.

Messi celebrates goals with his teammates; Ronaldo needs a cordon sanitaire in which to strike his familiar/obnoxious pose. (The link, again.)

Diego Forlan touches on some of those topics.

Where do I come down on this divide? On the Cristiano Ronaldo side.

I believe Ronaldo’s goals tend to be more difficult, given that the individual brilliance at Madrid is not as magnificent as it has been at Barcelona, the past 5-6 years, and that Ronaldo plays off to the left, while Messi is in the middle of the field.

I also have the impression Ronaldo just decided to be a great player. That he drove himself to be able to do what he does. Stories of his staying after practice to run and work on his game are common. I admire that.

Messi perhaps woke up one day with most of those skills, and he also became the focal point of a revolutionary scoring system, at Barcelona. It seems like he receives the ball already in the box far more often than does Ronaldo.

Who does Forlan prefer? You can follow the link and read the piece, but I will spoil it: He “slightly” prefers Messi.

His overall message, however, is the most appropriate.

“We are just lucky to watch Ronaldo and Messi at their best. Enjoy them while they last; they are special talents.”

Well, we hope we can see them at their best again soon. Messi has a knee injury and is expected to miss eight weeks. Here is hoping he is back soon, so we can get back to arguing.