In a wild twist of fate, Tuesday, Oct. 6 may have seen the end of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's international careers.
Messi's, we knew about. The Argentina legend played his last game for his country on Tuesday
. He lapped up the adoration from the crowd in Buenos Aires. He scored a goal, naturally. He said before the game that he was "at peace" — and why wouldn't he be? He has essentially conquered soccer.Hours before Messi's emotional goodbye, there was another emotional outburst in Portugal. That it came on the day Messi said farewell may not have been a coincidence.
Ronaldo, the player seemingly attached at Messi's hip in the public forum for two decades, released a nearly endless statement that he seemingly thought would clear
the air — and make him look like the bigger person in his ongoing spat with Portugal manager Jorge Jesus.
It did neither of those things.
The 41-year-old walked out on his team midway through the recent international window. In his nearly 2,000-word statement, Ronaldo accepted that wasn't the best thing to do — even more so when you're the captain. But his explanation of why he left went off the rails in a hurry.
As part of his long (did we mention it was long? It was really long!) statement, one section stands out.
Without getting into the weeds like Ronaldo did, let's fast forward to the denouement. Amid a spat with Jesus over being an unused sub against Norway, Ronaldo's statement included an agreed-upon list of talking points that the coach was to say in public in order to clear the air.
Among these are:
- I made a mistake by having someone of the stature of Pelé or Maradona warm up and then not put him in the game. If it happened today, I would not do it.
- As for not greeting the fans, we've already spoken about that. Someone who has played more than 230 matches for the national team doesn't need lessons from me about love for Portugal. It was a moment of frustration that doesn't erase anything. He is the player who signs the most autographs, takes the most selfies, and shows the most affection to the fans. Let's not invent problems where they don't exist. When we're unhappy, we react. That's all.
When Jesus did not publicly debase himself to Ronaldo's satisfaction, he left Portugal camp.
It's worth noting, again, that these were voluntarily released by Ronaldo, presumably with the expectation that they would convince the public to take his side.
That a player (even one the stature of Pelé or Maradona) dictating a list of talking points to his coach would seem like a reasonable thing to do, does not speak highly of Ronaldo's self-awareness.
For more than a decade, Messi and Ronaldo went toe to toe as the world's undisputed best two players. They traded trophies, both individual and team, as they rewrote the history books at Barcelona and Real Madrid.
As they continue to find success with their clubs, albeit at lower levels than La Liga, the end of their international careers has provided a stark contrast.
While Messi was cementing his legacy, winning the 2022 World Cup sandwiched between two Copa América titles, Ronaldo was often a distraction, a matter of debate and, too often, a detriment to a wildly talented Portugal side that couldn't get over the hump at the Euros or World Cup.
The sad irony is that these two giants of the game competed as equals for so much of their careers. But as both of their international journeys ended on the same day — Messi's for sure, Ronaldo's potentially — the Argentine's final chapter could not have been more different.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As Messi goes out on top, Ronaldo's Portugal run ends in bizarre controversy | Opinion
