Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are out of the World Cup. Soccer is a team game and not even the greatest pair of players who have come to embody the modern game have been able to lift their national teams into a cup winning performance. Their best chance may have gone to seed as Ronaldo will be 37 at the next World Cup in Qatar and Messi, probe to talk of early retirement, will be 35.
The fans are devastated. They have seen these two men fight every year for the Ballon d’Or and for the glory of their clubs. Messi has figured in one World Cup final and Ronaldo in a semi-final. However, neither has scored a goal in a knockout game. This is a dead giveaway that expectations around them have been larger than life whenever they turn out in their national colours.
The fact remains that the best players of this World Cup like — Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, Harry Kane — have fit into their team’s strategic play well and made them better. But not Ronaldo for all his streaks of individual brilliance nor Messi with his impeccable technique. Even so, nothing can take away what these two men have achieved in the game as giants of football and all-time greats.
Ranveer Singh @RanveerOfficial
He grew A #GOAT (EE) REALLY WHAT . A . GUY @Cristiano #URUPOR
I feel for #Messi ... chin up, Champ #FRAARG
arjun rampal @rampalarjun
Messi and Ronaldo exit the same day. I hope this is just a bad dream. Someone wake me up
Deep@CricMani acDeep
The only thing about Messi & Ronaldo's exit in this #WorldCup is that no more fan fight for the rest of the tournament & no annoying tweets from those who have almost zero knowledge on football but pretend to be experts. Peace ahead!
Mwes M Drew @_mwes
Ronaldo really hates to see Messi shine, he even had to Exit the world cup better than Messi
ajic@ziqtronic
Spain out, Argentina out, Portugal out, Germany out. 4 big boys out of the competition, really an unpredictable World Cup
Adarsha Dhungel@AdarshaDhungel
Unlike Cricket, You can’t score a century or take 5 wickets on your individual merit and win the game for your team, wake up Arjun!
Sneha Mukherjee@SnEhaDiMpY
I don’t think either of Messi or Ronaldo did something amazing yesterday. Both the teams including them were too lost. Both France and Uruguay were terrific. Argentina did the worst defending and for Portugal they missed so many close chances
Praneeth P@PPenumarty
yes this is what happens when you are over-reliant on a particular player football is a team game and a single player can win you matches but not tournaments unfortunately messi and ronaldo didn’t get enough support from the other end
Max @MADestlife
Two greats, all time greats. Just couldn’t get it done in the world cup in just about any measure. Ya, maybe read and you’ll see I said great players for their clubs. Ronaldo won a Euro but beyond that both have been massive underachievers at the national level
Rajendra Kumar Singh @rksingh1610
Moscow has proved to be (so far) luxurious graveyard for reputation — Ronaldo, Messi, Germany & some others. Neymar is the last gladiator left.
BBC Sport — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi exit after failing to find World Cup spark again
Sachin Shimoga@sshimoga
It is good the earmarked players and their teams are out. Slowly, the better teams are making it to the top
Sridip Nambiar@sridipnambiar
Not Messi or Ronaldo. Argentina and Portugal. Now watch rest of the ‘teams’ play, not individuals.
Tommy Smyth @TommySmythESPN
So let the debate continue as the two best players in the world exit Russia on the same day. Is this the swan song for Messi and Ronaldo. We lived in a great time as we got to see the two of them in the same league on a weekly basis.
mbulelo gxokwane @mbulelyo
Once upon a time there was another great. His name was Johan Cruyff (may his soul RIP). He just couldn’t do it in the WC.That’s why he doesn’t get mentioned as the all conquering great to date. Football history is littered with such big names missing out at the ultimate stage
Booby prize
Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde called opposition members “crows, monkeys and foxes” and called Prime minister Narendra Modi, “the tiger” at an event recently.
A couple of months ago, Hegde’s party colleague and BJP president Amit Shah likened the opposition to “snakes, dogs and cats”.
Union minister Ananth Kumar Hegde.
Hegde followed Shah’s footsteps at the event, albeit with different animals.
“On one side crows, monkeys, foxes and others have come together, On the other side we have a tiger. In 2019, choose to elect the tiger,’’ he said, referring to the opposition having come together in Karnataka and urging the public to vote for “tiger” Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
