By: Joe Smeltzer
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| Photo creds to huffingtonpost |
Whether or not Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the
two best players of all time is debatable.
What isn't up for discussion is that no players have ever
matched their fame on a global scale. For Americans who aren't familiar with
European football, the best way that I can describe the Messi/Ronaldo rivalry
is like the Magic-Bird era of the 80s, only on steroids. As fate would have it,
for the past decade, the two best players in the world—and maybe of all time—
both played in the same league, on its two most famous teams that themselves
make up one of the biggest rivalries in sports— Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Since Ronaldo left Man United for Spain, the two have
virtually ruled the club football world, combining to win Spain's La Liga in
all but one season since 2010, and collectively winning six UEFA Champions
League titles. Most importantly, Messi and Ronaldo both transcend their sport
in a way that nobody before them ever has, and it's doubtful that anybody can
match their impact going forward. While the two megastars still have a few
dominant seasons left, however time is starting to track them down.
Messi is 31 years old, and Ronaldo is 33, which means that
both will be north of 35 by the time the next World Cup rolls around. With
Messi's Argentina and Ronaldo's Portugal both exiting Russia within hours of
each other, it's possible that we have seen the last of soccer's biggest stars
on its biggest stage.
It looks like Saturday's 4-3 loss to France will be the last
time we ever see Messi in an Argentina uniform. The relationship between Leo
and his home countries soccer fans/federation has been a complicated one, and
even led to him briefly retiring from international football in 2016. Messi
will be 35 come 2022, and at 31, he looks tired of being the face of Argentina.
So it seems unlikely that he will put up with the high and sometimes unfair
demands of his country for another four years.
Ronaldo's case is a little different. While neither player
has had a lot of success internationally, unlike Messi, CR7 has won a major
tournament (Euro 2016) and, to put it kindly, hasn't had a supporting cast as
strong as Messi's Argentina squad. So fans are easily justified in not placing
as much pressure on Ronaldo as Messi, because Cristiano has more excuses not to
win.
Knowing that Ronaldo will likely still be productive in 2022
and has shown no signs of hanging it up anytime soon, if Portugal qualifies,
I'd be shocked to not see CR7 leading the squad in Qatar.
There’s a strong chance that we won't see at least one of
these two giants in four years, if not both. At some point, both of them will
be gone, and soccer will have to look for new faces to lead the sport. A few
candidates have shown up already in Russia.
The man responsible for Messi's World Cup exit, France's
19-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe, looks like he could blossom into one of
the world’s best. England's Harry Kane already captains his country at
24-years-old and is the frontrunner for the prestigious golden boot. The man
most likely to take over as soccer’s marque player is Messi's former teammate
at Barcelona, 26-year-old Neymar of Brazil. By November 2022, Neymar could well
be the best player in the world, and along with Messi and Ronaldo, his name is
one that transcends his sport.
What Leo and Cristiano have accomplished might be impossible
to duplicate, and them both coming along at the same time and in the same league
is a perfect storm that probably will never be replicated.
One good thing about a soccer world without Messi and
Ronaldo is that the two are so good and so legendary, that at times it’s as if
no other players matter. The main positive about the two legends walking away
will be the open doors that it creates for others to become the faces of their
sport. I think it would be wise to catch a glimpse of the future beforehand.
Time catches up to
everybody, and all we can do as fans is appreciate what these guys can give us
over the next few years, and also focus harder on the stars of the future.
