Image: Twitter
Once again, the all-time Portuguese star Christiano Ronaldo has spoken about what is considered by many football fans as a football rivalry between him and Lionel Messi from Argentina.
Ronaldo was asked if he and Messi are enemies in the world of football, which he strongly denied saying that there is no need for his fans to hate Messi.
He said that he and Messi are not friends but they respect each other a lot, saying that together they participated on the same platform competing for various awards in the world for more than 15 years.
"Hate? I don't see such things, we shared the stage for 15 years, I don't say we are friends, but we respect each other. The competition was good, the fans loved it," he said.
The captain of Portugal and Al Nassr said that if his fans really accept him then there is no need to hate Messi because their intention in football is to bring happiness to the fans on the field and not to try to create enmity.
"If you love Cristiano, you don't have to hate Messi. The two changed the history of football and are respected. The competition is over. Both of us have been doing well (in Saudi Arabia and MLS)," he added.
This statement by Ronaldo comes a few hours after UEFA released the complete list of 30 players who will compete for the Ballon d'Or award.
For the first time in 20 years, Ronaldo was excluded from the list while Messi was nominated.
If he wins the award, Messi will set a record for winning it 8 times, a record that has never been set by any player. Ronaldo has won the Ballon d'Or 6 times.
