Would Federer be better than Messi if he chose to play football?

Razoredge

Banned
We all know Federer was a football prodigy before playing tennis, do you think he would've been a GOAT player had he chose to play football? Better than Lionel Messi?
 
He certainly would have been good with his talent as would nadal but you have to consider that the talent pool in soccer is way larger. A tennis career from age 5-18 costs more than half a million dollars (coaches, travel...) so it is still a rich mens sport.

and we all know that most superior athletes come from a poor background (like all the runners, basketball and football players...). this is because there are more of them but also because they have more need to succeed. probably there are a lot of soccer players out there who would have the talent to be better tennis players then fed and nadal.

Maybe fed would have been as good as messi but the chance is equally high that he would only be a bench striker in some first league club. I'm not sure if his speed is enough to be as good as messi or ronaldo. he is super quick and moves great but we would need to see how fast he is in a 60 feet sprint.
 

TMF

Talk Tennis Guru
Federer can be a great soccer player but to expect him to be as great as Messi is highly unlikely, let alone better. And Messi wouldn't be a great tennis player(too small) had he chose to play tennis. They both are great in their own sport, however, Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
This guy would have done great

cristiano-ronaldo-474-rafael-nadal-playing-football-soccer-nike-mercurial-vapor-viii-8.jpg
 

Gizo

Hall of Fame
Given how tennis is a completely irrelevant and minuscule sport compared to football, being the best football player of a single generation (which Messi is of this current generation) is probably more impressive than being the greatest tennis player of all-time (which Federer has a very strong claim of being).

The number of active professional football players nowadays alone is much, much greater than the number of amateur or professional players in tennis history.
 
N

NadalAgassi

Guest
Is Messi undisputably the best. I thought many also believed Cristiano Ronaldo was. I have seen both play but dont follow much European football anymore.
 

Gizo

Hall of Fame
Well Messi does outperform Ronaldo year after year in the Champions League which is the biggest stage in club football, and probably the highest quality football tournament in the world.

Both players score an incredible number of goals every year, although it looks likely that Messi will outscore Ronaldo again this year. However Messi creates far more goals than Ronaldo does.
 

BauerAlmeida

Hall of Fame
Is Messi undisputably the best. I thought many also believed Cristiano Ronaldo was. I have seen both play but dont follow much European football anymore.

Messi is only 25 years old and has 3 Ballon D' Or (best player in the world award that is given each year). And is probably going to win a 4th one in January.

Ronaldo is 27 and only has one.

Messi is ahead of Ronaldo. Ronaldo and Iniesta are probably the second and third best player in the world.

Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

Messi is destroying records every match he plays and is only 25. It's impossible to compare because one is a team sport and the other is individual, but Messi is as dominant or more than Federer. Both are one of the most dominant in history though (with Jack Nicklaus, Kelly Slater, Michael Jordan, etc)
 

Goosehead

Legend
We all know Federer was a football prodigy before playing tennis, do you think he would've been a GOAT player had he chose to play football? Better than Lionel Messi?
it isnt possible to be better than lionel messi at football,

i always watch him and barcelona play in la liga (skysports) every sat/sun,

messi is the gift that keeps on giving,

for he be the goat :) meh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eehhh.
 
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axel89

Banned
i doubt federer would even make a living out of soccer the competition is 10x due to soccer being a much larger sport
 
Is Messi undisputably the best. I thought many also believed Cristiano Ronaldo was. I have seen both play but dont follow much European football anymore.

Both incredibly talented and heads and shoulders above anyone else currently. Messi's achieved more, but he's on the stronger team and scores a bit more and assists more. He's really good at what he does (Godly dribbling past defenders), but in terms of completeness I got to go with Ronaldo. In terms of the whole package he's up there. Overall though I think they are equal.
 

tennisMVP

Banned
Nadal is apparently the best golfer on the ATP tour, and was just as good at soccer as tennis. Never heard of Federer being good at sports outside of tennis.
 

goran_ace

Hall of Fame
If Federer chose soccer over tennis at the age of 8 it's just as likely that he'd be a decent accountant at this age as it is that he'd be a serviceable professional soccer player, much less one of the best.
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
If Federer chose soccer over tennis at the age of 8 it's just as likely that he'd be a decent accountant at this age as it is that he'd be a serviceable professional soccer player, much less one of the best.

This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.

As far as I'm aware, the only member of the top 4 who was anywhere near being a pro footballer was Murray, who was offered trials with Glasgow Rangers at age 14 - and it's almost certain that he wouldn't have made it as a pro footballer either.
 
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El Nino

Rookie
Monfils looks kinda good at football, would make a good Winger.
Although Murray (and maybe Rafa) are the best footballers in the top 50. Unless there's someone who I don't know about.
 

sonicare

Hall of Fame
This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.
.

Oh yeah? And what if when federer was 10, I told you that this guy will:

- be top 10.
- win 1 major.
- win 17 majors.

Can you tell me the odds on each one of those?

Federer/nadal/murray/djokovic all have very good builds for football. Ultimately we will never know but the amount of coordination/footwork needed for tennis would be handy in football.

I dont know if you watched the interview with peter schmeichel on the atp site but he said that nowadays the football coaches have realised that the best sport to do in conjunction with football is tennis and a lot of players even at the pro level are encouraged to play tennis. i know for a fact that ronaldo absolutely loves tennis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZOPi0LVXbs

INB4 yanks calls it soccer.. idiots.
 
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M

monfed

Guest
So what can Fed not do then? Could he be an astronaut, a scientist? Seriously this entire topic makes me cringe. :lol:
 
Messi's balance and close control are out of this world so no Federer wouldn't be close. Messi is in the top 5 players of all time.
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
Oh yeah? And what if when federer was 10, I told you that this guy will:

- be top 10.
- win 1 major.
- win 17 majors.

Can you tell me the odds on each one of those?



Federer/nadal/murray/djokovic all have very good builds for football. Ultimately we will never know but the amount of coordination/footwork needed for tennis would be handy in football.

I dont know if you watched the interview with peter schmeichel on the atp site but he said that nowadays the football coaches have realised that the best sport to do in conjunction with football is tennis and a lot of players even at the pro level are encouraged to play tennis. i know for a fact that ronaldo absolutely loves tennis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZOPi0LVXbs

INB4 yanks calls it soccer.. idiots.


Much lower than him having the aptitude for being a world class performer in tennis AND football - wouldn't you say?

I don't get what point you are trying to make in the bolded paragraph? That tennis is a good complementary sport for footballers to play? I suppose it could well be - but that has no bearing on the chances of Federer being a world class perfromer at football AND tennis.


Finally, the word soccer is an English invention, it came about to differentiate Association Football from Rugby Football - Rugger and Soccer.
 
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Feather

Legend
This. I swear a small minority of Fed fans think he's a deity and could fly if he wanted to.

The chances of Roger being a pro footballer are tiny - the chances of him being better than the best player in the world are so infinitessimally small that they might as well be zero.

As far as I'm aware, the only member of the top 4 who was anywhere near being a pro footballer was Murray, who was offered trials with Glasgow Rangers at age 14 - and it's almost certain that he wouldn't have made it as a pro footballer either.

What a ridiculous thread !

At first I thought it is a joke thread and I really can't believe that there are people who think that Roger can be a great soccer star as if it's just that easy. How can someone assume that just coz a guy is good in Tennis means he can play something else also.. Really silly

I never knew that Murray used to play Football. Murray playing football reminds me of Peter Crouch..

Of the topic, but I always used to like English Football. Always supported their national team. Gary Linekar, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, all my faves..
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
What a ridiculous thread !

At first I thought it is a joke thread and I really can't believe that there are people who think that Roger can be a great soccer star as if it's just that easy. How can someone assume that just coz a guy is good in Tennis means he can play something else also.. Really silly

I never knew that Murray used to play Football. Murray playing football reminds me of Peter Crouch..

Of the topic, but I always used to like English Football. Always supported their national team. Gary Linekar, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, all my faves..

All great players; Gazza is my all time favourite - makes England's under achievements in major tournaments all the more inexplicable.
 
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Feather

Legend
You cannot be serious!

One World Cup win (1998), Euro win (2000), one World Cup final (2006), what more you expect from a guy? Imagine France without him in all those tourneys :)

Let Messi and Ronaldo win titles for their national team first, titles as in not premier league ones, the BIG ones..
 

batz

G.O.A.T.
One World Cup win (1998), Euro win (2000), one World Cup final (2006), what more you expect from a guy? Imagine France without him in all those tourneys :)

Let Messi and Ronaldo win titles for their national team first, titles as in not premier league ones, the BIG ones..

To be fair mate, ZZ didn't win those titles on his own. ZZ was great, but Messi is greater IMO. Messi is the greatest player I've ever seen - and I'm onld enough to remember Pele in the 1970 World Cup and El Diego in the 80s.
 

Breaker

Legend
Ronaldo best forward of the last decade, Messi and Ronaldinho right up there with him though with Messi soon surpassing due to consistency and lack of injuries.
 

Feather

Legend
To be fair mate, ZZ didn't win those titles on his own. ZZ was great, but Messi is greater IMO. Messi is the greatest player I've ever seen - and I'm onld enough to remember Pele in the 1970 World Cup and El Diego in the 80s.

Oh you have seen Pele !

Messi is greater than Zidane, but Maradona ? I feel it's too much. Anyway, we can agree to disagree..

I like Messi too
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
I think these two sports requires a very different set of talent to be successful. Messi playing tennis would not have been very successful, while Federer playing soccer would not have been as successful as Messi either.
 
Federer can be a great soccer player but to expect him to be as great as Messi is highly unlikely, let alone better. And Messi wouldn't be a great tennis player(too small) had he chose to play tennis. They both are great in their own sport, however, Federer is more dominant in tennis than Messi is in soccer. Very few athletes were more dominant than Federer(ie Gretzky, Rice)

Fed is rightfully the GOAT in tennis and has done more than nadal, sampras or laver but I don't see him as dominant as jordan, ruth, bolt, woods or phelps were. neither of those were owned by their main rival (yes I know most were on clay but the best GOATs owned their rivals even when conditions were unfavorable-jordan won a championship while having fever).

the head to head is of course skewed by most matches being on clay so this doesn't prevent fed from being the goat but it keeps him from being one of inner circle GOATs.
 

helloworld

Hall of Fame
Messi would have been another Ferrer or Hewitt if he chose to play tennis. You need more than just a fancy footwork to dominate tennis. Will Messi have Sampras serve or Federer forehand if he plays tennis? I doubt it. These two sports are vastly different that it is impossible to compare.
 
Ronaldo best forward of the last decade, Messi and Ronaldinho right up there with him though with Messi soon surpassing due to consistency and lack of injuries.

Messi is better than real Ronaldo, when did Ronaldo ever score 80 goals in a calender year? Plus Messi is a far better all round footballer in terms of dribbling, passing etc.
 
I think it's inevitable Messi will become the GOAT attacking player. In that sport I think players should be judged only amongst their positions (unfair comparison to Zidane since Messi is sort of hybrid attacking mid/striker while Zidane was a maestro, a scientist)
 
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