Lionel Messi has just lifted his 8th Ballon d’Or trophy to truly cement his status as one of the greatest athletes in sporting history. The Argentine forward boasts the most Ballon d’Or wins right now, extending the lead at the top. France Football awards the golden trophy to the best player each year, and Messi, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, has been quite frequent in being so.
The Portuguese legend sits in second place on all-time Ballon d’Or wins, with five. The last time he won it was when he was at Real Madrid, in 2017. The Messi-Ronaldo rivalry truly took a turn when the former kept adding to his trophy cabinet. As always, there has been plenty of commotion regarding how Messi emerged as the winner this year.
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For some context, Erling Haaland had an exceptional first season with Manchester City. The Norwegian scored a record-breaking 52 goals in 53 games and even broke Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record. Pep Guardiola’s men also lifted the treble after beating Inter in the UCL final as well.
Despite this, Haaland failed to secure the Ballon d’Or winner, which could mean that Messi’s 21 goals and World Cup win eclipses the treble and the numerous individual achievements. This hasn’t sat well with many, and it looks like Ronaldo is allegedly one of them as well.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s comment overshadows Lionel Messi’s praise after Ballon d’Or win
After lifting the trophy, Messi spoke about his longtime rival Ronaldo. He said, “It was an epic competition between brackets. Athletically, he was very good and I think we benefited from each other because we are both very competitive and he also always wants to win over everyone and everything.”
The MLS star also mentioned that it was wonderful to create a “beautiful” memory for soccer fans with Ronaldo. But at the time, Messi may have seemingly given Ronaldo a harsh reality check, indicating that it is hard to stay at the top for a long time.
Just a few hours later, Ronaldo reacted to Messi’s Ballon d’Or win. He commented on a post on a journalist’s post who was questioning Messi’s Ballon d’Or triumph. The journalist, Tomás Roncero, said, “Messi has eight Ballon d’Ors well, he should’ve have five, he has the Ballon d’Ors of Iniesta/Xavi, Lewandowski who won 6 trophies in one season, and Haaland who was the top scorer of everything.”
🚨 Cristiano Ronaldo likes and comments on @As_TomasRoncero’s video regarding Messi’s Ballon d’Or.
Tomás Roncero in a video: “Hello friends what we knew has happened, they were going to give another Ballon d’Or to Messi. He went to retire at Miami, but he was already looking… pic.twitter.com/J01fhHCiJo
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) October 31, 2023
Ronaldo commented with a laughing emoticon under the post. This sparked major controversy among soccer fans, who ripped the Al-Nassr star to shreds without a second thought. A fan took to X to write, “Such a cry baby,” while another wrote, “How disgraceful can one person be!”
Such a cry baby
— . (@iruomafavour39) October 31, 2023
How disgraceful can one person be!
— K.B (@kay_bee____) October 31, 2023
How disgraceful honestly, even more so when Messi was rather complimenting him the other night.
Although it’s human nature to be jealous of those who are at the top, can’t blame him…— Yatharth Singh (@Singh_Yatharth_) October 31, 2023
Ronaldo’s real intent is still unknown, as the emoticon could have represented a wide variety of emotions that could have been conveyed incorrectly. Regardless, it seems like fans won’t be forgiving the star anytime soon, as the reactions suggest.
Messi is currently leading Inter Miami in the MLS and has had a blistering start to his career in the US. He has scored 11 goals and bagged 5 assists in just 14 games, and Inter Miami fans are hopeful of a league win one day. The same is the case for Al-Nassr right now, as Ronaldo seems to be stepping up for the team whenever needed as well.