Wow, you're really attentive to the players. Much more than I could ever be. Most people would be like "Oh, I just think he's a better player". That's very impressive! I'm going to keep an eye on Messi the next time I watch him play. I don't think I watch matches consistently enough to keep tabs on the players like you do. :O
But yes, Ronaldo is amazing, and even somone like me can recognize his superiority as a striker.
I don't think I was that interested about soccer in '06, but I agree about the vuvuzelas. I remember in the summer of 2010, my dad would turn on the TV to watch the matches and the drone of vuvuzelas would just continuously buzz in our ears. It was nauseating.
Actually, I prefer the term "football" too, to tell you the truth. My dad and my sister speak fluent Spanish, so they call it "futbol", so I've gotten used to it.