Lionel Messi once made a subtle, largely missed dig at Cristiano Ronaldo's addiction to the limelight. The careers of the greatest players of their generation - and arguably of all time - continue to criss-cross as they edge closer to hanging up their boots for good.
Contrasting farewells
Messi bowed out of international football this week amid emotional scenes in Argentina's 3-0 friendly win over Benin, which doubled as a celebration of his national team career. In contrast, Ronaldo's international career looks set to end on a chaotic note after he walked out on the Portugal squad following a bust-up with head coach Jorge Jesus.
The Manchester United legend has subsequently apologised and bizarrely urged the Portuguese federation to punish him for abruptly leaving the camp. The week has summed up the contrasting ways in which they have operated over the last 20 years, with Messi happy to let his football do the talking and Ronaldo a vociferous presence off the pitch as well as on it.
The Golden Shoe comment
Ronaldo has previously declared himself a "more complete" player than Messi, who has usually declined to engage in such one-upmanship. He did seemingly make one swipe - missed by most people - at his rival's attention-seeking after collecting his sixth Golden Shoe award for scoring the most league goals in Europe's top divisions in 2019.
He said: "I'd rather people talk about me. I know what I am, what I did and what I can give, but I keep it to myself. People can have their say. I don't like to talk about myself, I like to talk about the collective."
A cordial relationship
Despite being polar opposites personality-wise, the pair have enjoyed a largely cordial relationship. In 2019, Ronaldo once extended a dinner invite to Messi.
Ronaldo said: "We have shared the stage [for] 15 years. I don't know if that's happened before - the same two guys on the same stage all the time. Of course, we have a good relationship. We haven't had dinner together yet, but I hope in the future. We had that battle in Spain. I pushed him and he pushed me as well. So it's good to be part of the history of football."
Messi later accepted the invite, telling Supersport TV: "Yes, I don't have any problem with that. We might not be friends because we've never shared a dressing room together but I always see him at award shows and there's no problem. I don't know if there will be a dinner because I don't know if our paths will cross for obvious reasons, each one of us has our own life and our own commitments. But obviously, I would accept the invitation."
