- Sandesh Sigdel
With level of competition intensifying day by day, there have been very few players international football who have stayed at the top of their game for a long period of time. Injuries and fitness are major setbacks that force player’s performance to decline. Even if a player manages their fitness, the age factor catches up and the legs start to slow down. For fans, it is very sad to see their heroes worsen and eventually hang their boots.
It might be a cliche when we say this but two footballers – – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo do not follow the general rule of footballing life. Currently plying their trades in the USA and Saudi Arabia, respectively, their careers look far from over. They look hungry for gold every time they step on the pitch. Their performances echo the same thing.
A year or two ago, going to the Middle East or to Major League Soccer in the USA, it’d have been easily accepted that any player would move away from the spotlight and will be playing football, waiting for their retirement. It won’t be wrong to assume that they’d have been going on to the pitch with retirement on their mind. But these two footballers are far from calling it quits. They still have the eyes of the world gazing at them, and they continue to make it worth it.
Messi’s voyage to the US and the same hunger:
Lionel Messi won the World Cup last year. He has said numerous times that he has received what he desired the most- the highest pedestal a footballer can be at. There are millions of voices that say that he has “completed” football and has nothing more to achieve.
Messi was in Paris at the time going through a gruesome two-year stint. The situation was forced on him due to financial issues at the Catalan club he belonged from the age of 12. That’s a whole different picture to paint.
After the World Cup, he was convinced that the previous season was his last in France. He wanted to go back home to Barcelona, having achieved every trophy and everything football had to offer. But again, the financial woes came in between and he decided to go to Miami, USA, to play for a team that started their journey in 2020.
Miami had stayed at the bottom of the pile- and for many, the worst team in the USA. And he reportedly rejected a billion-dollar contract to go to the middle east via Saudi Pro League and opted the opposite direction.
Miami had been a go-to destination for the Messi family during Leo’s time off. Inter Miami CF was always on the cards for him- the owners Jorge Mas and David Beckham were working for his signature behind the scenes and they finally had their wishes delivered.
Lionel Messi was finally in the USA, in Miami, playing for Inter Miami. He was there for what many said was a “vacation” for him, firstly and secondly, to play outside the spotlight. He was there to have a good time off the pitch. But when he put the pink of Miami on and stayed on the pitch, he remained the same footballer he is- the best.
When you look at Messi play, you won’t see a man who has won it all or a man who is there on a said vacation. He is there to win, and make others believe the team can. Besides his FC Barcelona colleagues Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, Leo Messi drove the “worst” side in the MLS to win the Leagues Cup- a tournament comprising every single team in the Major League Soccer and Liga MX, the Mexican top flight.
Messi’s arrival helped the club achieve first trophy in the club’s history. He has also spiraled his side to the US Open Cup final, taking his tally in the US to ten goals and three assists in eight matches. And he has yet to play an MLS match.
What he will end up achieving in the next two years or so with Miami is there to be witnessed. And we’ll see where his hunger for the gold remains in two years’ time. But these two years will see the best player of his generation dazzle the American eyes with his eyes focused on silverware.
Ronaldo’s inconsistent Saudi shift:
Cristiano Ronaldo went to Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League after an average second stint with Manchester United. After leaving Real Madrid in 2019, his Juventus stint was good individual numbers-wise, but not collectively. After a decent first season with United, he was completely disregarded by the head coach, Erik Ten Hag and reportedly, none of the clubs that he was offered to in Europe wanted to sign him. His arrival in Saudi Arabia, however, was the first of many European players who followed suit.
After his arrival in the Middle East in January after failing to achieve anything noteworthy at the World Cup, Ronaldo was at the forefront of an Al-Nassr side that finished second in the league. They were top of the league when he joined but failed to keep the place with a superstar addition to their roster.
It was far from ideal for someone with a mindset of Ronaldo, though. That hasn’t stopped him from achieving anything noteworthy. He was seen to be over the moon when his side won the Arab Champions League, a friendly tournament contested by the clubs from the Arab World.
This is the same man who has five UEFA Champions League to his name, numerous league titles, individual accolades and whatnot. Anyone who watches him play knows he still has the hunger to go for the goals; he appeals for every single decision that doesn’t go his team’s way as seen in his side’s 4-2 win against UAE-based side Shabab Al-Ahli, a win synonymous to Ronaldo’s spirits- posing a fight till the end and coming back from the dead.
Ronaldo and Messi continue to keep up the levels
Wherever these freaks of nature go, there will be hunger in them. Combined, they have more than 1600 goals 75+ trophies, but they are yet to slow down from the day they started getting in the limelight 20 years ago. They will vie for more titles, for more moments of brilliance, in or out of the spotlight.
Messi and Ronaldo one day will eventually bow out of the pitch with an unmatched number of silverware but until they do, they will go for just one more, as many times as achievable.
