Known for their long rivalry in La Liga, Ronaldo & Messi maintain a good friendship. (Image via Akurat.co)

Ronaldo about Messi, from dinner to retirement

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
Soccer
Aug 31, 2019
3406
During the UEFA Champions League group draw in Monaco, Thursday (29/8), several awards were being given to prominent players for their prominent performances. As an era comes to an end, the 2018/2019 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year went to Liverpool’s center-back and captain of the Netherlands National Team, Virgil van Dijk.

By this, Virgil van Dijk became the first defender to snatch the award from the prominent forward players such as the Portuguese forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Argentine forward, Lionel Messi.

However, as Virgil van Dijk took the center stage, all eyes went to how close Ronaldo and Messi had ever been. During the event, both were shown sitting next to each other. Ever since at Manchester United, Real Madrid, and now Juventus, both Ronaldo and Messi – loyal to Barcelona – show a remarkable rivalry on 30+ years old.

As they are aging, the competitions in the last two years for Balloon d’Or and other awards have never been as heated as then. For the 2017/18 edition, both had to give up the title to the Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric. Until now, Cristiano Ronaldo, known as CR7, holds the most award by three Men’s Player of the Year awards, while Lionel Messi holds two.

For both, interviewed during the group stage draw, the competition between them was “beautiful”, and “like nothing ever was”. Sitting next to Ronaldo was the award winner Virgil van Dijk, and behind them were Brazilian & Liverpool’s goalkeeper, Alisson Becker, and Dutch & Barcelona’s midfielder, Frenkie de Jong.

The female interviewer then asked both a question whether they missed each other or not, and the answer would probably break everyone’s heart.

“We have shared stages for 15 years (in La Liga). We have not had any dinner together, but I hope in the future,” said Ronaldo.

Moreover, Ronaldo asserted that if Messi had not retired, then he would play on. In other words, despite being two years older, Ronaldo wanted to wait for Messi to retire, clearly showing how fierce yet intimate the competition between the two.

“He (Messi) is two years younger than me. But, for me, I can still kick as long as he is on the pitch,” added Ronaldo.

Messi also added that he missed the fierce competition between them like the last 15 years. But now, he remembered that Ronaldo is in a different league and a different nation.

“Of course, I missed every competition we had. But now, I could only see it from afar,” said Messi.

While the debate whether Ronaldo or Messi is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), the two only want to enjoy football as a beautiful game. One thing for sure, once these two GOATs retired, let us hope that the next generation will cater to us with the same competition or even better.

Source: https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/how-messi-vs-ronaldo-turned-into-messi-and-ronaldo-083019

Sports , Culture , Football , Soccer , Spain , La-Liga , Barcelona , Italy , Serie-A , Juventus , Lionel-Messi , Cristiano-Ronaldo , UEFA