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As this year’s FIFA world cup kicks off in Russia on Thursday June 14, football fans around the world can’t wait to see their favourite teams and players in action.
The current best footballers on the planet; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will lead the Portuguese and Argentine teams respectively in the quest to lift the coveted trophy. It will be the icing on the cake for either of them despite enjoying a trophy-laden career with their respective clubs and dominating the sport after sharing the last ten Ballon d’ors amongst themselves.
With their respective national teams, Ronaldo seem to have the bragging right after his Portuguese side edged host, France to lift the 2016 European cup even though he was stretched off after picking up an injury. Losing three Copa America finals and a world cup final, Messi on the other hand could only boast of a FIFA U-20 (2005) and Olympic Games (2008) winners’ medals.
Prior to this summer’s FIFA world cup, both players have represented their respective national teams in the last three world cups (2006, 2010 and 2014) with the Argentine coming close to lifting the trophy in 2014 after his side lost to Germany in the final with Mario Gotze scoring the only goal of the game during the extra time while Ronaldo’s Portugal only manage a group stage exit.
The 2018 world cup could be the very last one for these geniuses as age seem to be catching up on them and they may not be in good form before the 2022 world cup in Qatar. Ronaldo who turned 33 last February will be going into the world cup in fine form after helping Real Madrid lift the UEFA Champions League trophy for the third time in a row. Messi who will turn 31 on June 24 was not missing out on silverwares either as he guided his Barcelona side to lift both the Spanish league and Copa del rey trophies during the just ended season.
Ronaldo and Messi are obviously coming to the world cup with the desire to carry their respective national teams on their shoulders and axing the trophy in the long run as they will turn 37 and 34 years respectively before the next world cup. Portugal will clash with Spain, Morocco and Iran in group B while Messi’s Argentina will lock horns with Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria in group D.
Source: Tijani Quarcoo/pinkfmonlinegh.com
