For the first and perhaps only time, football fans around the world witnessed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo crying at the same time, which was a clear sign of the end of an era.
Cristiano Ronaldo has cried many times in his career. Although he is a player with great will and determination, the Portuguese football legend is also a person who cries easily. However, CR7’s tears have never brought such a strange feeling as in the match against Slovenia in the round of 16 of Euro 2024.
After wasting dozens of chances in the group stage and throughout the 90 minutes of the first knockout round, C. Ronaldo faced the most favorable situation to score.
In the 104th minute of extra time, Diogo Jota dribbled into the penalty area and was fouled. Penalty for Portugal and none other than the 39-year-old legend stepped up to the 11m mark.
Throughout the history of football, there are not many penalty takers as skilled as C. Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar has both a strong mentality and excellent finishing skills. Throughout his career, CR7 has scored 149 goals from the penalty spot. But that day, Ronaldo could not beat the opposing goalkeeper.
Like the last straw, the legend of world football burst into tears, even though the match had not ended and in fact Portugal won the final penalty shootout (where C.Ronaldo showed his mettle and successfully executed the penalty).
That shows that CR7 only cries for himself. He realizes that he is old and no longer has the ability to hold on to his youth to reign at the top of football.
Ronaldo cried many times at Euro 2024 (Photo: Getty).
In fact, C. Ronaldo has accepted to step back and give the stage to the next generation by deciding to move to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Nassr. However, this decision was only made at the club level. In the national team, it seems that CR7 still wants to be “unique, unique”.
The proof is that despite his lack of luck in front of the goal, C. Ronaldo still clings to the center forward position in the main squad. As a result, the entire system has to work hard to serve this 39-year-old “old man”. Apart from instinctive situations, CR7 does almost nothing, no running, no breakthrough, no pressing…
And in an unlucky and aging tournament, C. Ronaldo failed to score a goal despite his teammates creating many good opportunities. According to statistics, Ronaldo’s expected goal ratio is the third highest at Euro 2024, up to 3.52xG, but he failed to score any goals. For the first time in 10 consecutive major national tournaments, CR7 failed to score. As a result, Portugal was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
A week after Ronaldo left the European Championship, Messi and Argentina successfully defended their South American title. However, La Pulga could not show the same brilliance as at the 2022 World Cup. In the final match against Colombia, M10 also burst into tears after having to leave the field early due to an ankle injury.
Not as “helpless” as his arch-rival, but watching Messi play and seeing his increasingly heavy steps, everyone feels that “time for M10 is running out”. Thanks to his natural talent, Messi still has miraculous moves, but the frequency is getting less and less and he is also becoming more “sensitive” to injuries.
Similar to C. Ronaldo, Messi left top football in Europe. He went to America to play for Inter Miami. No matter how many wonderful stories the media tried to build up about this relationship, it could not cover up the fact that La Pulga came to the United States to retire, to have less time on the field and to spend time taking care of his family.
Messi is still vague about the possibility of participating in the 2026 World Cup, saying “if I am still strong enough, I will participate”. C. Ronaldo has not said anything about the World Cup, but Euro 2024 is definitely the last Euro. The affectionate tears that both of these legends have shed in recent days are a sign of the end of an era.
So, this is the right time to look back at the great careers of two players who have dominated world football for nearly two decades, creating an unprecedented rivalry in history, when the tension at many times came from each goal.
Lionel Messi’s Great Trophy Collection
Messi spent the first 21 years of his career with Barca, winning 10 La Liga titles and 4 Champions League titles. In addition, the Argentine superstar contributed 672 goals in 778 matches for Los Blaugrana. It is not an exaggeration to say that Barca’s history is divided into two halves, before and after La Pulga appeared.
Winning the 2022 World Cup is the pinnacle of Messi’s career (Photo: Reuters).
Despite his greatness, Messi had to leave Camp Nou in tears. Due to the economic and institutional crisis, Barca could not afford to renew the contract with the Argentine superstar.
As a result, La Pulga was left homeless and joined Paris Saint Germain on a free transfer in the summer of 2021. Messi was only with the French capital team for 2 years, an unhappy time, before joining Inter Miami.
During a not-so-happy time with the clubs, La Pulga found his way back to the Argentine national team. After winning the Copa America 2021, ending Los Albiceleste’s nearly 20-year title drought, Messi brought the people of the tango country to the pinnacle of glory and emotion by winning the 2022 World Cup. Messi holds the world record with 45 titles in his career.
Full name: Lionel Andrés Messi
Nationality: Argentina
Age: 37
Date of birth: June 24, 1987
Clubs: Inter Miami (2023-present); Paris Saint-Germain (2021-2023); Barcelona (2004-2021)
Ballon d’Or: 8 (2023, 2021, 2019, 2015, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009)
FIFA Best Men’s Player: 3 (2023, 2022, 2019)
Champions League titles: 4 (2014-15, 2010-11, 2008-09, 2005-06)
Argentina captain wins Copa America 2021 and 2024
Argentina captain wins 2022 World Cup
108 goals in 184 games for Argentina (both national records)
Cristiano Ronaldo’s illustrious career
Unlike Messi, who has spent almost his entire career playing for Barca, C. Ronaldo has wandered through many clubs, including Sporting Lisbon (2002-2003), Manchester United (2003-2009 and 2021-2022), Real Madrid (2009-2018), Juventus (2018-2021) and Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia (2023-present).
CR7’s trophy collection includes 5 Champions League titles, along with titles in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A. At the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo became the first player to score in five different World Cups. He is also the first player to score in five Euros.
Throughout his career, C. Ronaldo has won 5 Golden Balls, scoring more than 890 goals for clubs and the Portuguese national team. CR7’s most glorious achievements are associated with Real Madrid and the Champions League. He is the player with the most goals in the history of the Spanish Royal team (451 goals) and the most prestigious arena in Europe (141 goals).
Full name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Nationality: Portuguese
Age: 39
Date of birth: February 5 , 1985
Clubs: Al-Nassr (2023-present); Manchester United (2021-22 and 2003-09); Juventus (2018-21); Real Madrid (2009-18); Sporting Lisbon (2002-03)
Ballon d’Or: 5 (2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2008)
FIFA Men’s Player of the Year: 2 (2017 and 2016)
Champions League titles: 5 (2017-18, 2016-17, 2015-16, 2013-14 with Real Madrid; 2007-08 with Manchester United)
Captain of the Portuguese team won Euro 2016
Player with most goals in national football history: 130 goals
Top scorer in Champions League history: 141 goals
World Cup closes race
For the past two decades, Messi and C. Ronaldo have been competing and competing with each other at the top of world football. The Ballon d’Or is a private battle between these two superstars, and there have been times when it felt like each goal could influence the final result.
Finally, the battle between the two giants, the two demigods of world football ended at the 2022 World Cup, with a perfect ending for Lionel Messi. Throughout the journey to the championship, the Argentine team lived on Messi’s inspiration.
La Pulga’s flashes of genius took Albiceleste past one opponent after another. Statistics show that he had a hand in 10/11 of Argentina’s goals, including 7 goals and 3 assists.
Winning the 2022 World Cup is the biggest difference in Messi and Ronaldo’s careers (Photo: Reuters).
Therefore, Messi not only recreated the great image of Diego Maradona but also finally filled the void of his great predecessor as well as perfected his own career as much as possible. After the world championship, many opinions even recognized Messi as the greatest player in football history.
Of course, history will still record a prestigious position for C. Ronaldo and controversy will still arise as an inevitable part of the king sport. Although the rivalry has ended, the era of domination of the two superstars has gradually come to an end, but the legend of Messi and C. Ronaldo will last forever.
To contribute to this story and end the article with an ellipsis, let’s see what football icons have to say about these two legends:
Football legends talk about Messi
C. Ronaldo: “I really admire his career. As for Messi, he also said that he had a hard time when I left Spain, because there was a rivalry between us that he really appreciated. It was a good competition for football, but not an exception. Michael Jordan also had great rivals in basketball. The common point is that all top rivalries in sports are healthy.”
Gigi Buffon: “When I met Messi, I reached out to touch him. I needed to make sure he was a normal person like us.”
Ronaldinho: “When I look back at my career, the most interesting thing is to see the early years of Leo Messi. When he retires, football – not just Barcelona – should retire the number 10 shirt.”
Pep Guardiola: “He is the best player I have ever seen. The best thing about him is not the miracles he creates but the way he makes things so simple on the pitch. He is not the best player because he can dribble past three or four players, but because he does it better than anyone else in the world.”
Neymar: “I played alongside Messi, who for me is one of the greatest football players of all time, and he is my football idol”.
Diego Maradona: “I have seen the player who will inherit my position in Argentine football and his name is Messi. Messi is a genius”.
David Beckham: “Messi stands alone in his class, there is no one else like him. He is like Cristiano Ronaldo, although CR7 is not at the same level as Messi. But both are superior to the rest.”
Football legends talk about Ronaldo
Lionel Messi: “Ronaldo is always there to score in every game he plays. He’s been doing that for years and whether he’s at his peak or down a bit, the difference is negligible.”
The era of Messi and Ronaldo is about to end after Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024 (Photo: Getty).
Pele (after Ronaldo reached 770 goals): “Life is a solo flight. Each person has a journey. And he is having a wonderful journey. I admire him, I love watching him play football and there is nothing to hide. Congratulations because he has broken my scoring record.”
Georgie Best: “There have been a few players described as the new George Best over the years, but this is the first time I have taken it as a compliment to myself.”
Zinedine Zidane: “When you have Ronaldo in your team, you are already 1-0 up.”
Gerard Pique: “The best player I’ve ever faced has to be Ronaldo. You can’t take your eyes off him.”
Paolo Di Canio: “Messi left the field looking confused. He was quite emotionless. I like C.Ronaldo more. I like emotional people more than emotionless aliens.”
