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By: TELEVISA SPORTS
In the blink of an eye, the World Cup missed out on what was to be its big two Animators
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who have been bidding for years for individual supremacy in football, were excluded from the tournament on Saturday with a difference of a few hours, when Argentina has lost 4-3 against France and Portugal succumbed 2-1 against Uruguay.
The results of the first round had posi the possibility that Messi and Cristiano were in the quarterfinals and fans around the world began to revel in this possibility given the rivalry between the two, for a decade the two best players of the planet.
The destination also organized that the passage from Argentina and Portugal to the quarterfinals I was defined the same day. The possibility was diluted by two attackers of Paris Saint-Germain: Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani, authors of two doubles.
For both it was their fourth World Cup, and probably the last one, which implies that they will definitely inflate the list of great players who have never lifted the cup, which includes Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, Eusebio and Michel Platini.
Messi has just turned 31, while Cristiano is 33 years old. that they do it with the exalted level that they have shown all this time. Both have also shared the last ten gold balls for the best player of the year.
"This is not the time to talk about the future of players and coaches."
said Cristiano. he insisted that Cristiano is still strong and that he has in mind to face the qualifications of the next Eurocup, starting in September.
"Cristiano still has a lot to give to the national team," Santos said. "Cristiano will be with us to help young players, more than ever we need our captain and he will be present."
A revival arrives in Argentina, but midfielder Javier Mascherano said that Messi will not fail. "Messi is the only essential."
Argentina, who showed little in the World Cup, managed to take a 2-1 advantage over France in Kazan after losing 1-0 and gave the impression that I could continue in the race. But the Frenchman pressed the accelerator in the complement, scored three goals – two of Mbappé – in 11 minutes and liquidated the albicelestes hopes
Portugal, meanwhile, paddled against the entire game, as he was disadvantage of the six minutes with Cavani's first goal in Sochi. He equalized 54 with Pepe, but Cavani scored his second goal at 61 and settled the fight.
Cristiano had a phenomenal start, scoring the three goals of a 3-3 draw with Spain at first go and 1-0 win over Morocco in the second. In front of Iran, however, they took a penalty and against Uruguay, he was totally tied, without ever being close to goal.
The Portuguese, however, gets four points and satisfaction that at least in two games he knew putting the team on his shoulder, especially in the first with Spain.
Messi's backpack is much lighter. He scored a bit of his footprint in the 2-1 win over Nigeria who qualified Argentina, but that was his only notable appearance and he could not straighten out the course of A confused Argentina, without a definite line, which showed very little. 19659007] With Cristiano in his ranks, Portugal reached the quarter-finals in 2006, was eliminated in the first round in 2014 and in the second in 2010 and 2018.
Argentina's Messi was finalist in 2014, he arrived Messi has six goals in 19 World Cup matches and Cristiano seven in 17.
Nationally, Cristiano has the satisfaction of conquering the 2016 European Championship. Messi, d & 39; on the other hand, to the Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, but had to chew the bitterness of losing in three finals of the Copa America, in 2007, 2015 and 2016.
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