Xavi Gets All Moral On Ronaldo: Wouldn't Want Him To Play For Barca:

"The best player in the world is Lionel Messi and there's no chance he will switch allegiance," Xavi said in Sport.

"We also have Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o and with that kind of luxury, we are capable of doing anything.

"As for Ronaldo, I wouldn't want him here. At Barca, we do not have room for players who fill gossip magazines.

"We are hard workers and sportsmen but he, on the other hand, is uncontrollable." (Source)

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Xavi should be careful with that holier than thou attitude - hard work and sportsmanship don't always win. Likability often enables players to win popularity contests and be considered the best player in the world (as Gabriele Marcotti argued) but likability has nothing to do with winning championships.

Here's where Messi and Ronaldo stand today in our popularity contest at Bestplayerintheworld.com:

Lionel Messi 46% (1003 votes)

Cristiano Ronaldo 22% (479 votes)

Steven Gerrard 7% (152 votes)
Andres Iniesta 4% (85 votes)
Fernando Torres 3% (65 votes)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 2% (52 votes)
Kaka 2% (50 votes)
Frank Lampard 2% (39 votes)
Wayne Rooney 1% (30 votes)
Ronaldinho 1% (29 votes)
Andrei Arshavin 1% (24 votes)
Nemanja Vidic 1% (17 votes)
Franck Ribery 1% (16 votes)
Luka Modric 1% (17 votes)
Xavi Hernandez 1% (16 votes)
Robinho 1% (15 votes)
Didier Drogba 1% (16 votes)
Cesc Fabregas 1% (13 votes)
Samuel Eto'o 1% (12 votes)
David Villa 1% (12 votes)
Iker Casillas 1% (11 votes)
Arjen Robben <1% (9 votes)
Ashley Young <1% (8 votes)
Petr Cech <1% (8 votes)
Emmanuel Adebayor <1% (6 votes)
Gianluigi Buffon <1% (6 votes)
Sergio (Kun) Aguero <1% (5 votes)

Total Votes: 2195