I thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn't ready to announce it, and I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was pretty sure I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and deicide if I still love
This article is spot on, but there’s one other reason why Messi hate has spread like wildfire this World Cup:
~15 years ago with the GOAT debate at its peak, hundreds of millions of young fans worldwide picked CR7 as their idol while he and Messi went band for band.
And the battle was legendary.
But for the past decade, Ronaldo fans have watched their GOAT slowly decline while an aging Messi remained on top of the world, surpassing Ronaldo on individual awards and lifting the game’s most prestigious trophy, which Ronaldo could never get near.
Ronaldo’s millions of supporters now roam social media like a leaderless army who has lost the war.
With the debate on the pitch settled and Ronaldo’s legacy capped, his fans desperately undermine Messi’s achievements in a futile attempt to close the ever-widening gap between stars.
And I don’t blame them.
But that is why, as football fans everywhere enjoy the glittering sunset of Messi’s unparalleled career, millions of Ronaldo diehards are reduced to complaints about referees and TikTok aura edits from 2017, while they watch a little boy from Rosario forever eclipse their childhood hero and take his rightful place as the greatest footballer to ever live.
Hating Messi shows me more about your character and value system than about anything else. Because all you have against him is speculative and stems from envy.
Apparently making 3 out of 6 World Cup finals and winning 1 of them is more embarrassing than making 0 out of 6 World Cup finals. Strange world we live in
🗣️ Lamine Yamal: "O tarihin en iyisi ve her zaman hayranlık duyduğum biri. Maç sonunda ona saygımı gösterdim.
Bana yoluma devam etmemi ve geleceğin bizim kuşağımıza ait olduğunu söyledi. Bu sözler, boynumdaki altın madalya kadar değerli."
Of course winning another World Cup would’ve been a legendary send off, but I just don’t see this as a sad moment for Messi.
And with time, I’m sure he’ll see it the same way.
Dominated this tournament beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, even his biggest fans.
We never have, and never will, see anything like this again.