Cristiano Ronaldo wants to retire from professional football after Lionel Messi won the Ballon D’Or in 20219 – Report.
Thierry Marchand, one of the top journalists at L’Equipe, has released the biography of Cristiano Ronaldo. He met the Portuguese international in 2019 when the journalist interviewed the attacking superstar and made a biography that was released today.
In his biography, Marchand has revealed some key comments Ronaldo had made back in 2019, where the forward said he would quit football if Lionel Messi had won the Ballon d’Or.
“I changed clubs, championships, football culture, I took a risk and it was that risk that I’m sure, made me not win the Ballon d’Or in 2018,” Ronaldo said (h/t Diario AS) when asked about him not winning the Ballon d’Or in 2018.
But Ronaldo continued, “If Messi wins the Ballon d’Or this year, I’m leaving football,” saying that his rival Lionel Messi did not deserve to win the award either.
Fortunately for Ronaldo, Luka Modric ended up taking home the coveted Ballon d’Or, making him the first footballer to do so since 2007 besides Messi and Ronaldo.
Karim Benzema, a teammate of Modric’s at Real Madrid, recently joined him on the list of footballers who have won the Ballon d’Or award over the past 15 years besides these two footballing titans.
It seems that Messi and Ronaldo are beginning to lose their dominance over the game of football as we observe a significant change in individual hierarchy within the sport. This year’s victory for Benzema in the Ballon d’Or was proof of it.
The two superstars may soon pass the baton to up-and-coming athletes like Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland as time goes on.
