Interface News Reporter | Yang Yi
Interface News Editor | One white
In the early morning of June 8, 2023, Beijing time, Argentine star Messi and Major League Soccer (MLS) Miami International Club announced that the two sides reached a franchise agreement, and Messi will wear the number 10 shirt.
It is understood that Miami International offered Messi an annual salary of 50 million euros and offered a generous return for club shares, Apple and Adidas sponsorship agreements.
Messi said: "I really want to go back to Barca, but after what happened two years ago, I don't want to put my future in the hands of someone else. Thinking about me and my family, I decided to make my own choice. ”
At this point, "Where Did Messi Go", which lasted for nearly a season, came to an end, and Messi, who became a free agent for the second time in his career, also chose a place to go after a short period of "unemployment".
Messi ended his 19-year spell with European clubs, scoring 704 goals and 338 assists in 853 games, winning 38 titles and seven Ballon d'Or.
Now Messi is about to travel to North America, and Ronaldo flew to Saudi Arabia half a year ago, and the "peerless double pride" handed down the kingship of the five major European leagues, and the two superstars have been on the same track since then.
- "Mero Showdown", only memories remain
According to the industry, since Modric won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, the domination of football in the field of competition in the "Mero era" has ended.
In the previous decade, the award, which symbolizes football's highest personal honour, has only changed hands between the two men. During this period, Messi and Ronaldo fought head-on many times, each won numerous championships, and each reached the pinnacle. World football has entered the "Mero era".
Manchester United's match against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2007-2008 Champions League season opened the prelude to the "Mero controversy". Cristiano Ronaldo, 23, and Lionel Messi, 20, played together for the first time, and United beat Barca 1-0 over two legs, with neither being able to score.
After crossing Barca, Manchester United won the Champions League on a rainy night in Moscow. It also became a bumper year for Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring 42 goals for Manchester United throughout the year, helping the team win the Premier League and Champions League, and winning the Golden Ball of the Year, World Footballer of the Year, European Golden Boot and other honors for the first time. And all this, Messi sees in his eyes, seems to remember it in his heart.
As fate would have it, a year later at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Manchester United and Barca met again, but this time in the Champions League final. "Little flea" Messi scored with a header that he was not good at, shattering the dream of Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United's title defense.
This season, it was Messi's turn to win the honours, scoring 38 goals for Barca in all competitions and leading the team to the feat of "six titles".
With the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in July 2009, the Spanish national derby was added to the aura of double pride matchup, and the "Mero controversy" also entered a climax.
In 2011, Barca won three consecutive La Liga titles, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and scored twice in the semi-finals of the Champions League to eliminate Cristiano Ronaldo again. But in 2012, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid, led by Jose Mourinho, removed Bassara from the La Liga throne. Ronaldo then won the Ballon d'Or in 2013-2014.
In the past 10 years, Messi and Ronaldo have played 30 times on all fronts, and many classic matches have been born, which have become the talk of fans on both sides.
On 23 April 2017, in La Liga, Barça visited the Bernabeu. Messi dyed red, double-ring, read the second kill, his 500th goal, the key points to win the championship, this game has too many footnotes to become one of the masterpieces of his career.
After the decisive goal, Messi held up his shirt and indulged in showing the number 10 of Barca to the silent Bernabeu. In this game, Ronaldo, who did not receive anything, had no choice but to become the background board.
However, the so-called "old enemy" is more important than the response. Four months later, the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup was played again. This time it was Cristiano Ronaldo who kicked the world wave to take away the victory and flexed his muscles at Camp Nou.
Under the spotlight, the "Mero controversy" no longer stays on the stadium, in the eyes of fans and media, the contrast of the achievements of the two proud is the top topic in football.
The peerless double pride has won 12 of the past 14 Golden Globe Awards. So far, Ronaldo has won a total of 5 Ballon d'Or, while Messi has won the most trophies in history. In addition, no other player in history has won this award more than three times.
Overall, Messi, who has had a more consistent club career, has outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo in most honours, but the latter has won the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo won three consecutive Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018 and has a record 140 Champions League goals.
The same outstanding achievement allowed the best debate in history endlessly, until the attribution of the 2022 World Cup, which finally closed the "Mero controversy".
Guardiola once said: "Even if Messi didn't win the World Cup, I think he is the best player in history, and the World Cup title is just the last cherry in his incredible career. ”
In Doha, Qatar, Messi, who reached the World Cup final for the second time, was elected the World Cup Golden Ball for the second time, but finally got this "cherry". But the experience of the "ball king" in the national team was not smooth.
As early as 2005, Messi made his national team debut. In the 17 years that followed, apart from a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Messi and Argentina failed to win another international final.
How similar, the double pride in the club has experienced a lot of dormancy in the national team. However, Ronaldo, who is two years older than Messi, succeeded earlier. In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal to the European Championship and won the first national team.
Messi, on the other hand, passed the Hercules Cup in 2014; also refused to claim the best player after losing the 2015 Copa America; The 2016 Copa America re-entry seemed to be the last straw that broke Messi, and he retired from the national team disappointed.
For a time, the beautiful Cristiano Ronaldo was in stark contrast to the frustrated Messi, and people began to talk about Ronaldo's indomitable will and leadership, even the giant Maradona of Argentine football once commented: "Leo does not know how to be a leader." ”
However, after Scaloni became the manager of Argentina, he began to build a team around Messi, placing De Paul, Otamendi, Di Maria and other players by Messi's side to provide moral support and make up for the lack of Messi's leadership temperament.
In the end, the revived Pampas Eagles won the 2021 Copa America and then fulfilled the dream Hercules Cup in Qatar in 2022.
In the Qatar World Cup match against the Netherlands, Messi directly faced Dutch coach Van Gaal to celebrate, and in the post-match interview session, he responded to the provocations of Dutch players with a "nest for you".
In contrast, Ronaldo, who is self-possessed and proud, has never changed, still seeing himself as the center of everything. Before the start of the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo bombarded Manchester United and competed with his teammates for goal attribution in the World Cup, and locker room problems were frequently exposed.
In the end, despite the tears in Ronaldo's tears when he left, Portugal fell to the quarterfinals, and the "Mero showdown" that the world had hoped for was also in vain.
In fact, since the summer of 2018, after Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Serie A Juventus, the "Mero matchup" has been difficult to play. The two sides did not play together again until the group stage of the 2020-2021 Champions League season, and this meeting between the two is also considered to be the epitome of the end of the "peerless double pride".
In January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain played a friendly match with Riyadh Victory. In addition to the prize money of up to 10 million euros, there is also the 37th "Mero showdown".
At that time, both superstars are likely to experience their final World Cup, and since Ronaldo chose to travel to the Saudi league in the final stage of his career, this friendly match is also regarded as the final chapter of the Mero showdown.
The game that started on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year is worthy of the "Football Spring Festival Gala" from the content point of view. Messi opened with a blitz and Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to give Paris a 5-4 victory. The two hugged each other on the field and saluted, which is the true meaning of the "Mero controversy".
"Today, it's a very wonderful 'nemesis relationship.'" Messi once commented on his rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo: "We've both had fantastic careers and I'm grateful to have that kind of competition in our careers. ”
Fans who have experienced the "Mero era" are lucky enough, and so are Messi and Ronaldo.
- At the same crossroads, Messi also chose to leave
Ronaldo was like a fire, shouting "resignation" before last year's World Cup, Zhang Luo's long interview, bombarded Manchester United without cover, and finally ended up in the point of no one and left Saudi Arabia; And Messi is more like water, his contradictions with Paris undercurrent, but endured, this time chose to go to the American Professional Union, but also showed the face after tasting everything.
Earlier, in the 38th round of Ligue 1, Messi completed his curtain call in "Greater Paris".
"I've had the privilege of coaching the best players in the history of football. This will be his last race at the Parc des Princes and I hope he is welcomed in the best possible way." Paris coach Galtier said this before the game, but whistles and boos echoed in the stadium before the start when the host read Messi's name.
During his two years with Paris, Messi helped Paris win two Ligue 1 titles and one Ligue Premier League title. His number of appearances was fixed at 75 games, scoring 32 goals and providing 35 assists.
Among them, Messi contributed 21 goals and 20 assists this season, reaching more than 20 times in both single-season statistics for the sixth time in his career, and is the only player in the five major leagues this season to achieve this achievement.
But clearly, Paris fans aren't buying it, perhaps unhappy with Messi's failure to lead the team further in the Champions League or haunted by Messi's dream of ending France's title defense at the World Cup.
Since Messi joined, the "Grand Paris", which had previously reached the final, did not advance in the Champions League, stopping the round of 16 for two consecutive years, and Messi's own performance was difficult to convince. During this period, Messi played a total of 14 Champions League games, contributing 9 goals and 4 assists, but did not score any goals or assists in the four knockout games.
In the end, Messi's trip to Saudi Arabia further worsened his relationship with the club, and the two sides also chose to cut their seats after the end of their last contract.
Previously, among the many potential next homes, the old club Barca was undoubtedly the most vocal choice, but in the end, Barca's poor financial situation added too many obstacles to Messi's return, and both sides had no choice but to give up.
Another popular option is the Riyadh Crescent of the Saudi League, which, according to several foreign media reports, offers the "king of football" the richest annual salary in football history, about 400 million euros.
But in the end, this sky-high price did not impress Messi, and the double proud Saudi derby that fans were expecting came to naught.
Unexpectedly, Miami International, who seemed to be emotionally and financially unsuperior, had the last laugh. Messi said: "If I had made the current choice for money, I could have gone to Saudi Arabia or somewhere else, and they seemed to offer me a big contract." The truth is, I finally decided to move to Internacional Miami and not because of the money. ”
Internacional Miami was founded by David Beckham, a former football star who acquired the rights to buy an expansion team for $25 million when he joined MLS in 2007 and opted to form a new team in Miami in 2014.
In recent years, with the overall value added of the MLS League, the club, founded in 2018, has a market capitalization of $585 million, ranking 37th in the Sportico Global Football Club Value List.
In terms of record, this new team is still young in the MLS League, with 5 wins and 11 losses in 16 games, ranking last in the East. According to ESPN's previous report, after the successful joining of the "King of Ball", Miami International plans to make its debut on July 21.
At a press conference announcing his joining Internacional Miami, Messi said: "I received an offer from a European team before, but I didn't even evaluate it because in Europe my idea was just to go back to Barcelona. ”
Six months ago, when free agent Ronaldo struggled to find a home in Europe, he had no choice but to leave; Now, standing at the same crossroads, Messi, who cannot return to Barca, has also chosen to leave. However, one of them to the left and the other to the right, it is difficult to intersect again.