Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most bizarre stories in football history. The Portuguese maestro has, in many ways, transcended beyond being just a player, or even a person.
He is a brand, and, above all else, a symbol to the many, many fans that flock to support him in whatever he does, wherever he goes.
If you ask football fans who they believe is the GOAT, then Lionel Messi will, nine times out of ten, be the response. But what's strange is that, the more you probe, it becomes clear that many of those people believe Messi is better, but they prefer Ronaldo. Why is that?
Cristiano Ronaldo isn't the GOAT, but his story will be remembered with more fascination than that of Lionel Messi
There's something about the Ronaldo story that, no matter how you spin it, is much more fascinating than that of his Argentine rival.
Often times, that's attributed to the classic 'Natural Talent vs Work Ethic' argument - that Ronaldo is what anyone can be if they are committed enough, while Messi is merely a one-off anomaly.
But honest football fans know that isn't true - no calibre of work ethic can magically make your vertical akin to that of an NBA player.
Finishing and ball-striking at the level that Ronaldo, perhaps the most varied goalscorer in football history, displayed... that cannot be etched into just anyone.
But there is a sense that Ronaldo was the more disadvantaged of the pair. Whether that's his own fault - the arrogance he displayed across his career is beyond that of a more timid Messi, and opened the Portuguese winger up to more scathing media treatment - is irrelevant.
At times, it does appear that his greatest rival didn't go through half as many tests as the #7 did.
Whether that's his lack of a Premier League resume, or the fact that the Argentine struggled in his only stint away from his beloved Barcelona, even with Neymar and Mbappe beside him.
Aside from early international failures, it seems that Messi got everything he craved, whereas Ronaldo will be left wanting.
Isn't it easier to picture the tragic tale of Ronaldo being remembered more than that of the man who... just won it all? With no real holes in his resume to dissect decades from now?
No, that doesn't seem right. It isn't a clear enough answer as to why so many people seem to prefer Ronaldo, even when they know Messi is the superior player.
Is it his personality? After all, this is a man who was caught on camera sulking after his Real Madrid team-mate nicked a back-post tap-in from him, walking off, head down, as his pals celebrated.
Is there a fascination with Ronaldo because of how much he needs to be the best, not wants, but requires it, just as much as we regular folk need air to breathe?
Whatever the answer, maybe the real answer lies in our inability to find a concrete one at all.
Maybe it's the fascinating, unexplainable allure of a man who stood under the brightest of lights, demanding our collective attention.
That even though he existed at a point in time where another man, one who possessed even greater gifts, was performing at a higher level, he still forced his way into the debate regardless.
That at 41, he still cries when he fails to secure silverware: a billionaire that's won it all, playing like he's broke and without a trophy to his name.
That for all of Messi's greatness, the more fascinating question actually lies in how Ronaldo was ever able to even challenge him in the debate for being the world's best, and football's greatest.
The Argentine is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best player that we will ever see touch grass in our lifetimes.
But when decades pass by and someone, because it will happen, inevitably takes the crown from Messi, whose story will be remembered with more fascination?
"Messi was an alien, son, my own father told me all about him.
"But have you heard about the man who cried tears of sadness when his own team-mates scored?"
