When Cristiano Ronaldo is asked about Messi, without saying that he's directly better than him he does say that that competition makes him a better player, and vice-versa. And you can still download World Soccer Winning Eleven for PC. Konami's franchise was called World Soccer Winning Eleven in the USA until that year, and in Japan it's still called Winning Eleven.
The Pro Evolution Soccer saga, also known as Pro or PES, didn't have the same name in all countries until 2008.