Lionel Messi's grand arrival at Inter Miami signals a brand-new chapter for the Argentine superstar. However, what is perhaps more significant is that his departure from European football marks the first time both he and old rival Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing outside the continent that gave rise to their fame. With that said, in this feature, Soccer Laduma's Lukhanyo Mtuta discusses what certainly looks to be the end of an era as two of the sport's most dominant athletes over the past 15 years have now left Europe's elite.
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A Fight For The Crown
For much of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's careers, the pair have been locked in a duopoly that had never been experienced before. They share 12 Ballon d'Or awards between them, the prestigious accolade recognising the best footballer in the world each year. Messi has claimed the prize on seven occasions, while the Portugal international has won it five times, making the duo the most successful players in this regard. Fans from around the globe witnessed an unprecedented period between 2008 and 2017 as they were the only recipients of the Ballon d'Or, marking an incredible dominance that would only be broken by Luka Modric in 2018. Since the award was first introduced back in 1956, no player has won it more than three times apart from Ronaldo and Messi, with Johan Cruyff (1971, 1973 and 1974), Michel Platini (1983, 1984 and 1985) and Marco van Basten (1988, 1989 and 1992) being the only other footballers to win it thrice. The Argentina captain has had the upper hand in terms of the Golden Ball as he also holds the record for winning it four years in a row between 2009 and 2012. While the Ballon d'Or award is where their rivalry began to take shape, Messi and Ronaldo's stories as individuals began in stark contrast in the early 2000s. Messi joined FC Barcelona from Newell's Old Boys in 2000 as a 13-year-old. Just four years later, he would make his senior debut and would remain in Catalonia until his shock free-agent move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021.
A Broken Love Story Between A Legend And His Club
His departure from Barca left a serious wound in his heart, as he has repeatedly expressed his sadness about leaving his boyhood club. Speaking in a recent interview with Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, the 36-year-old explained that the way he left the side back in August 2021 after being promised a new deal had a lot to do with his decision to snub a fairy-tale return to the Camp Nou and join Inter Miami instead. "I really wanted and was very excited about being able to return, but on the other hand, after experiencing what I experienced and the way I left, I didn't want to be in the same situation again: waiting to see what would happen and leaving my future in someone else's hands. I wanted to make my own decision, thinking about myself, about my family. Although I heard that it was being said that LALIGA had accepted everything and that everything was fine for me to come back, there were still many other things that needed to happen. I heard that they had to sell players or reduce players' salaries, and the truth is that I didn't want to go through that or take responsibility for something related to all of that. I have already been accused of many things that were not true in my career at Barcelona, and I was already a bit tired; I didn't want to go through all of that." The South American will spend the next two-and-a-half years in the United States after penning a lucrative deal worth between $50 and $60 million (R905 million and R1.1 billion) a year. His unveiling on 16 July in front of a packed crowd in Fort Lauderdale was a glitzy affair, leaving remnants of David Beckham's historic arrival in Major League Soccer in 2007 when he joined LA Galaxy after a four-year stint with Real Madrid.
The Glittering Accomplishments
While there's a sour undertone to how things ended between him and Barca, for many fans, his time at the club is the most memorable as the fierce debates, over who the greatest of all time really is, were first unearthed in July 2009, when Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United. LALIGA became the two players' battleground and competition between them intensified for the better part of the 2010s. The Los Blancos legend would go on to score an incredible 450 goals in 438 games for Real, becoming the club's all-time top scorer – a record he still holds to this day. Messi, on the other hand, scored a staggering 672 goals in 778 games for Barca to become their most prolific player in history. Messi has won a total of 41 trophies for club and country to date, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup being his biggest accomplishment by his own admission. Ronaldo, meanwhile, has 34 career titles, including trophies in the Premier League, LALIGA and Serie A.
The Legacy Will Live On Forever
Perhaps it is somewhat poetic that both stars have now left Europe in the same year after achieving winning every possible club and individual trophy the continent had to offer. With the 2023/24 campaign set to be the first season in which neither of them will be competing in the UEFA Champions League since 2003, it is fair to say the glittering Messi-Ronaldo era has now concluded in an unceremonious way, but will still go down as one of the greatest rivalries in world sports history. It is unclear whether or not such fierce competition between two individuals will ever be replicated, but what is certain is that the debates over who is the "GOAT" ("Greatest Of All Time") between the pair will continue to be a contentious topic for fans inside pubs and on Astro turfs. Supporters will also have to live with the fact that Messi and Ronaldo could have reunited in Saudi Arabia this year, but the former was evidently not keen on accepting a giant €1.5 billion (R30 billion) offer to play for Al Hilal, which would have extended their role as rivals in football folklore. Many football lovers, particularly in Saudi Arabia, would have loved to see that reunion, but it seems Messi is ready to enjoy the latter stages of his career in Florida as a world champion. Ronaldo, meanwhile, will undoubtedly still be eager to continue scoring goals in the Saudi Pro League, the division that has well and truly experienced a major profile boost since his arrival in January.
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