CELEBRITY
Messi or Ronaldo? Football’s hottest debate rages on in Qatar
It may have been a rest day at the World Cup on Thursday but there was no stopping the football discussion that never ends – who is the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?
With no games in the Qatari capital for the second straight day, fans streamed to the Souk Waqif to shop and see the sights, and the decade-long debate about who is the GOAT – the “greatest of all time” – continued in the cafes and restaurants.
Fans of Argentina, who meet Netherlands in their World Cup quarter-final on Friday, and Portugal, who take on Morocco on Saturday, were well-represented in the narrow streets and squares of the souk, with plenty of neutrals weighing in too.
“It’s Ronaldo – I think Ronaldo’s all-round game is superb. I think he’s more versatile than Messi, who has a wonderful left foot, but Ronaldo is the better footballer and athlete,” England fan David Barley told Reuters.
Fellow England supporter and Arsenal Fan TV host Robbie Lyle disagreed.
“It’s got to be Messi now — I’ve been to all the games out here and Messi, in the last game (against Australia), he ran the show,” he told Reuters.
RIVALS
The 35-year-old Messi and Ronaldo, who is two years older, have dominated football’s most polarising debate for the best part of 10 years, especially when they were rivals at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
Both are playing at their fifth World Cup but neither has yet won the trophy. It is the only major accolade to elude them in their glittering careers, and this may be their last chance to achieve it.
Ronaldo being benched in Portugal’s 6-1 demolition of Switzerland has caused some of his die-hard fans to reconsider the current state of affairs.
“Today? It’s probably Messi, but overall I prefer Ronaldo – I’m a Portugal fan, Sporting is my team, so Ronaldo,” American fan Melo Barrows said.
Wearing a traditional white thobe in the bustling souk, Badr Saleh Debel from Saudi Arabia said he had no doubt in his mind – Messi is the greatest.
“Messi, Messi, absolutely Messi,” he said. “It’s not about the ball, the goals, the history. He’s a good player, he scores also, he assists — what a player, he’s the best player of all time.”
With the two greats are in the twilight of their careers, there is only sure one way to decide whose legacy will be the greatest, according to Melo Barrows.
“A Portugal-Argentina final would be the best scenario,” he said.
-Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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