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On the night of the start of Götterdämmerung, the two best footballers of the last decade have separated by 1512 kilometers.
United was Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in their destiny: the World Cup in Russia continues now without them, and the World Cup in Qatar 2022 is far away. Too far. Messi is 31 years old, Ronaldo is 33 years old. They will not get a great outing of the biggest football scenes.
It was 18:55 local time Saturday in Kazan, when Messi froze up to the salt pillar. "Leo is of course bad, like all of us," said striker Sergio Agüero after leaving France: "But he was probably the hardest of all, because of the pressure on him every game for the Seleccion ". The newspapers saw the time to rebuild, "with or without Messi," wrote "The Nacion": "A new era must be inaugurated.There was no Messi epic, but much more earthly."
Four good hours later, At 22:55 local time in Sochi, Cristiano Ronaldo managed to clear the armband of his captain, he thanked the referee and resigned disappointed, but with dignity. "Was it the farewell of a legend?" Asked the newspaper "A Bola". There was no answer after the Portuguese defeat against Uruguay. Ronaldo had personally escorted injured double marker Edinson Cavani of Uruguay on the field in order to save no precious time in the face of an impending start. Ronaldo did what he could. But it was not enough.
A Burnt Messi
"The best are out, it's the end of a generation," wrote the Argentine newspaper "Ole", and it was clear to them why it was so: Messi and Ronaldo had in their hands The teams found "little support", so they struggled to "play at the same level as in their clubs". This is certainly not a new acquaintance. But while Ronaldo was still struggling to raise his teammates to his level, Messi did not seem to have the strength or the will to do so. It seemed burned
Messi and Ronaldo dominated the World Footballer's elections for ten years, each receiving five awards. Messi has won four UEFA Champions League and three Club World Cups with FC Barcelona, four with Real Madrid (4) and four with Manchester United (1) in the Champions League and four times in the Club World Cup. Success with the national team? Messi was at least Olympic champion in 2008, otherwise he failed, especially formidable in the final of the 2014 World Cup in Rio. Ronaldo, however, led Portugal to the European title in 2016 – after all, a big title.
As Ronaldo Messi has now played four World Cup finals, first: 2006 in Germany. A fifth world cup? An Argentina without Messi, "the best player in the world", as coach Jorge Sampaoli said about it, many do not want to imagine it. "The only one we can do without, is Messi," said his old friend Javier Mascherano. However: Messi has already declared his resignation from the national team, he returned to meet his, but especially the dream of Argentina's title. A charge that is probably too big.
Ronaldo? Said Saturday that it was "not the moment right now" to talk about the future. Others have done. "Cristiano," said coach Fernando Santos, "still has a lot to give to football, I hope it stays."
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