THE GOODBYE GUYS

FOR 15 YEARS, LIONEL MESSI AND CRISTIANO RONALDO HAVE DOMINATED FOOTBALL. AND IT IS UNLIKELY THEY WILL GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT

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Cristiano Ronaldo has decided not to go gentle into the ‘good evening’ of his career.

Whatever off-the-pitch game he is playing, in this tussle within the Old Trafford confines, there is bound to be many sides to the story. But the cold truth is that the superstar’s reputation has popped like a balloon and only a rejuvenating performance in the World Cup will pump up his post-Qatar club prospects.

As the spotlight shifts from the leagues to the Arabian hub of expectations — cue a smiling Ronaldo in his Portuguese domain — there is that sense of fleeting time.

The generation which has debated who is greater, Ronaldo or Messi, is privileged to witness their rivalry, talent, steadfastness and dedication; contrasting demeanour but similar methods to the same goal. The topic itself generated 14,30,00,000 results in a google search.

There is a clash of personalities, and it is difficult to be neutral, but step aside for a bigger picture and you could imagine they are twins, the yin and the yang. And perhaps, to borrow a line, they complete each other.

These are strange journeys we undertake. Soon after discovering Argentina, Messi had to lose Barcelona. But Paris was needed for an escape from chaos, for reinvention, a breather. In a club, where the primary plot was that of a young Frenchman with the world at his feet, Messi could just sit back and enjoy the view.