Leo is talent in its purest form and his magic enchants audiences. Cristiano, on the other hand, is the talent who declares and claims his ambition, who shows his fatigue, and this scares the public
There are two ways of growing old. The first is that of Lionel Messi: scoring a hat-trick at the World Cup at 39 and convincing the world that time is just an opinion. The second is that of Cristiano Ronaldo: showing his limits, dragging a team that is already struggling and suddenly finding himself in the dock, as if twenty years of his career had been erased in 90 minutes. The first days of the World Cup separated the destinies of the two men who more than anyone else defined 21st century football. Messi was celebrated as a living monument. Ronaldo is being torn down like dictators’ monuments when the regime changes. And the supporters seem to have never existed.