JAKARTA - Cristiano Ronaldo apparently does not consider Lionel Messi as a rival, but is like a teammate. This was conveyed by the Portuguese superstar in a recent interview with Piers Morgan.
This statement came as a surprise considering the rivalry between the two names on the football stage for more than a decade.
"The players are amazing. He's magical. As a person, we share the stage for 16 years. Imagine 16 years we shared the stage," Ronaldo said, quoted by Sportbible, Friday, November 18, 2022.
Ronaldo and Messi did dominate the European football stage for at least a decade and a half. Both engage in competition, both for individual awards and trophies for their respective clubs.
These two players are considered the best of all time in football. The competition as the best has made many people think that their relationship is not harmonious.
However, this assumption is refuted.
"So, I have a good relationship with him. I'm not his friend in terms, I mean the friend you are with at your house, talking on the phone, but more like a team-mate," Ronaldo said.
"He's a man I really respect because of the way he always talks about me. Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they are from Argentina," added the owner of the five Ballon d'Ors.
Ronaldo and Messi are currently in Qatar to compete to be the best in the 2022 World Cup. Both will try to win the most prestigious trophy they have never collected.
Messi almost lifted the 2014 World Cup trophy in Brazil when Argentina reached the final. However, the dream disappeared after La Pulga and his friends suffered a narrow defeat to Germany through Mario Gotze's single goal.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
