German legend Lothar Matheus, who held the record for the most appearances in the World Cup before Lionel Messi, gave conflicting evaluations of the ‘rivals of the century’ Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.
Matheus claimed in an interview with ‘Bein Sports’ on the 20th (Korean time), “Ronaldo caused damage to the Portuguese national team and himself with his pride.”
Ronaldo participated in his 5th World Cup, the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and succeeded in scoring, writing a record of 5 consecutive goals in the World Cup, but this was the end.
Ronaldo, who scored from a penalty kick in the first match of the group stage, remained silent afterwards, scoring only one goal in five matches, and suffered the humiliation of being excluded from the selection in the tournament.스포츠토토
Ronaldo, who is only 37 years old and this World Cup could be his last, had to finish the tournament bitterly in the quarterfinals, showing a sluggish performance in the end.
Commenting on Ronaldo’s performance, Matheus said: “There is no doubt that Ronaldo is a great player and an absolutely lethal goalscorer, but now he has damaged his legacy.”
“It’s kind of a pity for Ronaldo because it’s hard to think he’ll ever have a place in the team,” he lamented.
On the other hand, Messi, Ronaldo’s rival, gave conflicting evaluations. Messi put Argentina on the top of the World Cup by performing his best performance in this World Cup, recording 7 goals and 3 assists.
Messi participated in the World Cup final held on the 19th and played in 26 World Cup matches, breaking Matheus’ record for the most appearances in the World Cup (25 matches).
Regarding Messi, who broke his own record and lifted the World Cup trophy, Matheus said, “Messi is an absolute winner. He gave all football fans, including myself, great joy for 17-18 years with his quality and the way he played, so he won the title. He deserves it.”
He went on to add, “To me, Messi is a millennium (year 1000) player”.