Even if you are not a frequent Football watcher, you would still have heard about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. These two Football superstars have shared such intense rivalry over the years that they have got admirers almost everywhere in the world.
However, despite the rivalry that they share, Ronaldo and Messi have got a lot of respect for each other and they have often spoken about it publicly as well.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have shared Ballon d’Or stage for 15 years
While Messi once said that Ronaldo had a lot of qualities that the “other players” would want, Ronaldo once said that he would specifically like to have Messi’s left foot despite the fact that he himself is pretty decent with his own left foot.
“Me? Messi’s left foot isn’t bad. Maybe the left foot. I’m not too bad using my left, but maybe his is slightly better,” Ronaldo had said in a Ballon d’Or event.
Ronaldo and Messi have been nominated for Ballon d’Or successively for the last one and a half decade and Ronaldo said that he and Messi had formed a really good bond, sharing the biggest stage in Football together for 15 years.
Ronaldo also said he was not sure if it ever happened in the history of the game that the same two Footballers kept getting nominated for Ballon d’Or continuously for such a long period of time.
Ronaldo and Messi have spent a big chunk of their careers playing in the Spanish top tier La Liga where they were representing two arch rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
However, it’s not the same anymore as Ronaldo has now moved to Italy and he is currently representing Juventus in the Italian top tier.
Earlier this summer, there were rumors of Messi leaving Barcelona as well, but eventually he stayed after a lot of deliberations. Later Messi admitted himself that he had almost made up his mind to leave, but he had to change his mind because of his family.
