Following Lionel Messi’s incredible display for Argentina against Croatia on Tuesday night, Wayne Rooney was all praise for him.
Wayne Rooney has openly reiterated his conviction that Lionel Messi is the best player to ever play the game of football, ignoring his former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the process. With a convincing victory over Croatia on Tuesday night, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner helped Argentina advance to the World Cup final. He has been at his brilliant best for Argentina throughout the World Cup in Qatar.
He succeeded in starting the scoring for Argentina in the first half from the penalty spot, and just before the break, Julian Alvarez scored a fantastic solo goal to double their advantage.
Then, Messi switched to being the creator to set up Alvarez’s second goal of the game and secure Argentina’s victory with an outstanding assist. The 35-year-old ran circles around Josko Gvardiol before finding his teammate for the simplest of finishes.
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After the game, Rooney felt compelled to resurrect an old tweet to express his ecstatic admiration for Messi, who had left him speechless with his awe-inspiring performance against Croatia. Messi is an insult.
The former United striker declared in 2012, “For me, the finest ever,” and reiterated that sentiment on Wednesday morning while using the emojis for a goat and a man shrugging his shoulders.
Ronaldo, who is frequently named alongside Messi in the ongoing discussion about whether of the two players is truly the best of all time, was probably miffed by his assessment of the Argentinean.
The 37-year-old had a miserable World Cup, scoring just one goal in the group stages before being benched for Goncalo Ramos for both of his team’s knockout games after Portugal was eliminated by Morocco in the quarterfinals.
During his time at United, Rooney and Ronaldo were a potent attacking pair, but as a result of the criticism the former England captain has leveled at his former teammate, their friendship has deteriorated recently. Rooney criticized Ronaldo for his behavior at Old Trafford in a talkSPORT interview from last month, and the Portuguese striker eventually left the club by mutual consent after a dispute with senior management.
Rooney stated, “The things he has done since the beginning of the season are not acceptable for Manchester United. “I’ve seen supporters of him, like Roy Keane. That wouldn’t fly with Roy. Roy would never agree to that.
“Manchester United currently has to focus on rebuilding; it’s a distraction. For Cristiano, simply put in the work and be prepared to play when the manager asks you to. I believe that if he accomplishes it, he will be helpful, and if not, he will be an unwelcome distraction.
In a follow-up tell-all interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo responded to Rooney by claiming that his remarks were motivated by jealousy, saying: “I don’t understand, you should ask this question to him. I’m not sure why he was so harsh with his criticism, but it’s likely because he ended his career in his forties. I’m still performing well in my game.