No chance mate, ronaldo's a far better physical specimen, but for natural ability and all out technique Zidane is way out in front.
I can't agree with you there. Take nothing away from Zidane -- he's one of the greatest players we've seen over the last 20 years. His "technique" was sensational and he was a born winner for club and country.
Ronaldo has yet to do it for his country, so I'll grant you the edge for Zidane there. But that's of course not what we're talking about. We're talking about the relative strengths of each player's technique.
Let's review the checklist of items that add up to one's "technique":
Shooting with either foot
Heading on goal
Free kicks
Dribbling past one defender
Dribbling past several defenders
Passing
Crossing
Shooting with either foot. Ronaldo, hands down. If we can't agree on this one, then we can't move forward. Ronaldo.
Heading on goal. Yes, Zizou had those two headers in the World Cup final, but comparing Ronaldo to Zidane with respect to this skill is comparing a man to a boy. Ronaldo.
Free kicks. Ronaldo, right?
Dribbling past one defender. Ronaldo, right?
Dribbling past two several defenders. I'm going to give you a wash on this one. Ronaldo was unbelievable as a United man beating 4-5 defenders, but he's content now to take the shot or make the pass after beating one defender. Zidane never settled down in his willingness to beat defender after defender even late in his career.
Passing. I'll grant you Zidane here, but not by much. Zidane's passing was always more elegant than Ronaldo's, but Ronaldo is a very effective passer as well. The problem with Ronaldo, if you want to think of it this way, is that his game is not about making that first past out of the back (see Carrick) or building up play in the middle third -- his game is all about the final ball, either being the recipient or the provider of the final ball.
Crossing. Ronaldo was flogged by many of us for his poor crossing in his early United days. But by the end of his United days he was a very effective crosser. But Ronaldo is really not much of a winger these days, but nor was Zidane. Ronaldo comes in from wide positions with the ball and because he normally skins his defender he's in a position to take the shot or slot the final ball to one of his teammates.
Top to bottom, Ronaldo was the better footballer in terms of "technique" -- but let's be clear we're splitting hairs among two of the greatest footballers ever to play the game. If you want to have a conversation about who was the better "leader" and who showed up more often in the biggest of big games, it's Zidane all the way.
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