July 6, 2025
Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo - The Greatest of All Time: The Ultimate Football Rivalry
For 15 years, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo waged the most captivating rivalry in sports history. From Barcelona's La Masia academy to Madeira's poverty, both future legends overcame incredible odds to reach the top. Their El Clasico battles from 2009-2018 redefined football excellence, with both routinely scoring 50+ goals per season and trading Ballon d'Or victories. Ronaldo conquered Europe with Portugal in 2016 while Messi endured heartbreak after heartbreak with Argentina, even retiring briefly in 2016.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar became their final showdown—Messi's magical semifinal performance against Croatia and eventual triumph settling the GOAT debate forever. Now in twilight at Inter Miami and Al-Nassr, their legacy stands: 45 trophies vs. 34, 8 Ballon d'Ors vs. 5, and over 1,600 combined goals that elevated football to an art form.
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Calaruga Shark Media.
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In previous episodes, we've explored feuds driven by business betrayals,
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family dysfunction, and wounded egos. But tonight we're diving into
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something completely different, a rivalry born not from hatred or betrayal,
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but from pure, relentless excellence. This is the story of
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two men who didn't just compete against each other, they
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redefined what it means to be great. For over fifteen years,
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Leonel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have waged the most captivating
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individual rivalry in sports history. They've broken records that seemed unbreakable,
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won a combined thirteen ballon d'Or awards, scored over eight
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hundred goals each, and divided the foot ballworld into two
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passionate camps. Their rivalry has transcended sport itself, becoming a
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global phenomenon that has sparked debates in every corner of
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the planet. Unlike our other feuds, this one isn't about
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personal animosity. Messi and Ronaldo respect each other even if
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they're not friends. Their feud isn't built on insults or backstabbing.
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It's built on something far more powerful, the relentless pursuit
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of perfection and the burning desire to be remembered as
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the greatest footballer who ever lived. From the youth academies
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of Argentina and Portugal to the grand stages of the
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Bernabeu and Compnau, from the heartbreak of international tournaments to
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the twilight years in Miami and Saudi Arabia. This is
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the story of how two extraordinary athletes pushed each other
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to heights that may never be reached again. The debate
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that has consumed foots for nearly two decades who is
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the goat? The answer may finally be clear, but the
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journey to get there is one of the most remarkable
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stories in sports history. This is episode nine, the greatest
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of all time, Act one, the Origins of Greatness. Our
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story begins on opposite sides of the world with two
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boys who would grow up to redefine football itself. Leonel
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Andres Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina, on June twenty fourth,
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nineteen eighty seven. Three years earlier, on February fifth, nineteen
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eighty five, Cristiano Ronaldo do Santo Saverro was born on
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the Portuguese island of Madera. From the very beginning their
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paths to greatness couldn't have been more different. Messi's early
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years were marked by both extraordinary talent and crushing adverse.
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By age six, he was already being hailed as a prodigy,
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nutmegging older kids and scoring goals that left coaches speechless.
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But at age ten, doctors diagnosed him with growth hormone deficiency,
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a condition that threatened to end his football dreams before
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they truly began. The treatment cost one thousand dollars per month,
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far beyond what his family could afford. Enter f C Barcelona.
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The Catalan giants had been watching this tiny magician, and
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in two thousand, when Messi was just thirteen, they offered
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him a contract. Legend has it that Barcelona's sporting director,
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Carls Recksock was so convinced of Messi's talent that he
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wrote the first offer on a napkin at a tennis club.
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Barcelona would pay for Messi's treatment and bring his entire
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family to Spain. It was an investment that would change
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football history. Ronaldo's journey was equally dramatic, but entirely different.
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Growing up in a working class family in Madeira, he
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showed athletic gifts from an early age, but his path
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was marked by determination and sacrifice rather than medical intervention.
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At twelve, he made the heartbreaking decision to leave his
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family and moved six hundred miles away to Lisbon to
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join Sporting CPS Academy. He lived in a dormitory, often
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crying himself to sleep, missing his mother and siblings terribly.
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But where Messi was naturally gifted, Ronaldo was relentlessly driven.
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While other kids played video games, Ronaldo was in the
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gym or on the training pitch, sculpting his body and
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perfecting his technique. His teammates at Sporting remember him staying
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late after every practice, working on free kicks, stepovers and shooting.
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Even as a teenager, Rinaldo displayed the obsessive dedication to
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improvement that would define his entire career. By two thousand three,
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both future superstars were ready to announce themselves to the world. Rinaldo,
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just eighteen, caught the attention of Manchester United manager Sir
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Alex Ferguson during a friendly between United and Sporting. The
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young Portuguese was so impressive that United's players reportedly told
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Ferguson he had to sign him immediately. Within days, Rinaldo
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was wearing the famous number seven shirt at Old Trafford. Meanwhile,
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Messi was quietly developing in Barcelona's famed La Masia Academy,
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learning the intricate passing game that would become his signature.
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In two thousand and four, at just seventeen, he made
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his first team debut for Barcelona, becoming the youngest player
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ever to represent the club. At that time, the stage
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was set for a rivalry that would define a generation.
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In two thousand seven, both players found themselves nominated for
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football's most prestigious individual awards, the Ballon d'Or and FIFA
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World Player of the Year, neither one, both finishing as
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runners up to ac Milan's Caca, but the seeds of
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their legendary competition had been planted. In interviews that year,
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Messi said of Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary player
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and it would be brilliant to be in the same
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team as him. Little did he know that they would
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spend the next decade trying to destroy each other on
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football's biggest stages, Act two, El Classico Wars. The rivalry
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truly ignited in two thousand nine, when Ronaldo made his
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blockbuster transfer to Real Madrid for are a then world
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record fee of one hundred thirty one million dollars. Suddenly,
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the two best players in the world were wearing the
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shirts of football's most bitter enemies, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
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El Classico, already the biggest match in world football, became
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something approaching a religious experience. For nine seasons from two
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thousand and nine to twenty eighteen, Messi and Ronaldo faced
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each other at least twice every year in La Liga,
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plus additional meetings in the Copa del Rey and Champions League.
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These weren't just football matches. They were cultural events that
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divided households, friendships, and entire nations. Every El Classico became
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a referendum on who was better, the magical Argentine or
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the magnificent Portuguese. The numbers from this period are almost
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impossible to believe. Between two thousand and nine and twenty fifteen,
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both players routinely scored over fifty goals per season, something
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that had been considered nearly impossible in modern football. Messi
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reached his peak in the twenty eleven to twelve season,
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scoring an unprecedented seventy three goals in all competitions for Barcelona,
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a single season record that may never be broken. Ronaldo
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responded with his own historic campaigns, including sixty one goals
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in twenty fourteen to fifteen. Their styles couldn't have been
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more different, which only added to the debate's complexity. Messi
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was the artist, a left footed wizard who seemed to
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glide across the pitch, finding passes that others couldn't see,
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and scoring goals that defied physics. He was Maridona reborn,
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a player who made the impossible look effortless. Ronaldo was
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the athlete, a perfectly sculpted physical specimen who combined power,
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pace and precision in ways that had never been seen before.
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He was a goal scoring machine who thrived under pressure
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and seemed to will his team to victory through sheer
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force of personality. The individual awards during this period ping
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ponged between them like a tennis match. Messi won the
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ballon d'Or in two thousand and nine, twenty ten, twenty
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eleven and twenty twelve. Ronaldo struck back with victories in
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twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen. Messi reclaimed it in twenty fifteen,
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then Ronaldo won in twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen. Each
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victory felt like a statement, each defeat like a personal affront.
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But it wasn't just individual brilliance. It was team's success
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that elevated both players. Barcelona, with Messi as their creative hub,
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won the Champions League in two thousand and nine, twenty eleven,
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and twenty fifteen, playing a brand of possession based football
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that was considered the highest form of the game. Real Madrid,
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with Ronaldo as their focal point, responded by winning the
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Champions League in twenty fourteen, twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen and
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twenty eighteen, with Ronaldo earning the nickname Mister Champions League
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for his clutch performances in the competition's biggest moments. Their
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head to head record in El Clasico tells the story
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of two evenly matched titans. In thirty four meetings between
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two thousand nine and twenty eighteen, Messi's Barcelona won sixteen,
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Ronaldo's Real Madrid won eleven and seven ended in draws.
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Messi scored eighteen goals in those matches, Rinaldo scored nine,
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but statistics only tell part of the story. Each meeting
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was a masterclass in elite performance, with both players raising
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their games to levels that seemed super human. The rivalry
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pushed both men to unprecedented heights. Former Barcelona coach Pep
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Guardiola once said Messi makes everyone else better, but Ronaldo
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makes himself better through pure will. Their competition was so
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intense that it elevated not just their own games, but
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the entire sport La Liga during this period was considered
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the strongest league in the world, largely because it housed
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these two phenomena. By twenty eighteen, both players had achieved
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everything possible in Spanish football. It was time for new challenges,
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new stages to prove their greatness, but the rivalry was
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far from over. Act three, the international divide. While their
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club careers reached stratospheric heights, international foot fotball became the
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great divider in the Messi Ronaldo debate. For years, it
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was Ronaldo who held the advantage, and the gap seemed
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to expose the fundamental difference in their careers. Ronaldo's international
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success came relatively early. In twenty sixteen, he led Portugal
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to their first ever European Championship, despite being injured early
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in the final against France. The image of Ronaldo on
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the sideline, coaching his teammates like a manager while tears
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streamed down his face became iconic. It was leadership of
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the highest order, and it gave him something Messi had
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never achieved, a major international trophy. Ronaldo followed up by
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leading Portugal to victory in the twenty nineteen UEFA Nations League,
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making him the first player to win both competitions. His
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international record was impressive. He had delivered when it mattered most,
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despite playing for a nation with far fewer resources and
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talented players than Argentina. Messi's international story, by contrast, was
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one of heartbreak and near misses that seemed to define
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his career's greatest weakness. He reached four Copa America finals
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with Argentina and lost all four two thousand seven, two
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thousand fifteen, two thousand sixteen, and the two thousand fourteen
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World Cup final against Germany. Each defeat was more crushing
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than the last, with Messi often shouldering blame from Argentine
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media and fans who expected him to single handedly deliver
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international glory. The low point came after the two thousand
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sixteen Copa America final defeat to Chile on penalties. In
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an emotional post match interview, Messi announced his retirement from
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international football. I tried so hard to be a champion
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with Argentina, but it just hasn't happened, he said, through tears.
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I couldn't do it. I think it's best for me
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to retire, for everyone, for me and for many people
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who want it. The announcement sent shock waves through the
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football world. Argentina without Messi was unthinkable. Fans protested outside
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the Argentine Football Association headquarters, begging him to reconsider. Teammates
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publicly pleaded for his return. Even rival players expressed their
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hope that he would change his mind. Messi reversed his
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decision just two months later, but the damage to his
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legacy seemed permanent. Critics pointed to his international failures as
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proof that he couldn't perform when it mattered most. That
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he was a choker who wilted under the ultimate pressure
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was a narrative that Ronaldo's supporters used relentlessly in the
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goat debate. The contrast was stark. Ronaldo had conquered Europe
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with Portugal despite having less talented teammates, Messi playing alongside others,
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world class players like Sergio Aguero, Anguel Di Maria and
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Paolo Di Bala couldn't deliver for Argentina for years. This
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international gap kept the goat debate alive when it might
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otherwise have been settled in Messi's favor. But football has
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a way of writing its own endings, and Messi's international
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story was far from over.
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If you're enjoying this show, please check out our sister podcast,
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The Messi Effect, a weekly show that dives into the
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FIFA Club World Cup, Gold Cup Soccer and the amazing
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world of Lionel Messi. The Messi Effect is available wherever
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you get your podcasts.
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Act four, European Exodus and New Chapters. By twenty eighteen,
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both superstars were entering what many thought would be the
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twy light of their careers. Ronaldo, at thirty three, shocked
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the football world by leaving Real Madrid for Juventus in
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a one hundred thirty million dollar transfer. His mission was clear,
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bring the Champions League to Turin and prove he could
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dominate in a third major European league. Messi meanwhile remained
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at Barcelona, the only club he had ever known professionally,
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but the relationship was becoming strained. Barcelona's board made increasingly
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poor decisions, the team's playing style was becoming outdated, and
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Messi grew frustrated with the club's direction. In twenty twenty,
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he famously tried to leave Barcelona, sending a bureau fax
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to inform the club of his desire to terminate his contract.
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Legal battles and contractual disputes kept him at the club
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for one more season, but the magic was fading. The
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end came in dramatic fashion in twenty twenty one. Barcelona's
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financial crisis meant they couldn't afford to renew Messi's contract
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under La Liga's salary cap rules. After twenty one years
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with the club, Messi was forced to leave through tears
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at a press conference that broke hearts around the world.
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Perry Saint Germain quickly swooped in offering Messi a new
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chapter in French football, but both players European epilogues were
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anti climactic. Rinaldo's time at Juventus yielded two Serie titles
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but no Champions League success, the primary reason for his move.
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His final season at Manchester United was a disaster, marked
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by public criticism of the club manager Eric tenn Hag
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and his teammates. It ended with a controversial interview with
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Piers Morgan that led to his contract being terminated. Messi's
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PSG stint was similarly disappointing. Despite forming an attacking trio
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with Neymar and Kyli lean Mbapei that looked unstoppable on paper,
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PSG failed to win the Champions League. Messi's performances were
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solid but not spectacular, and he often looked like a
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player going through the motions rather than the magician who
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had enchanted the football world for over a decade. By
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twenty twenty three, both legends were ready for new adventures.
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Ronaldo's choice was shocking. He signed with Al Nasser in
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the Saudi Pro League for a contract reportedly worth two
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