Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game by Jonathan Clegg

Author:Jonathan Clegg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Seven

Gold Rush

When the time came to hand out the Ballon d’Or, soccer’s most prestigious individual award, there was a strict protocol in place. The votes were tallied from national team captains, coaches, and international media over several weeks leading up to the wintertime awards show. The only people aware of the results ahead of time were a small handful of organizers and the finalists themselves. Spoiling the surprise wasn’t ideal, but in the hectic life of a 21st-century soccer player, arrangements had to be made for private jets, altered training schedules, and red carpet attire. Once they got the call, nominees were sworn to legally binding secrecy.

In January 2012, Leo Messi was preparing to receive that call again. With two Ballons d’Or already in his trophy cabinet, he ordered up a dinner jacket in burgundy velvet to pair with a black velour waistcoat tailored by the Italian designer Dolce & Gabbana—Domenico Dolce dressed Messi personally as often as possible. Ronaldo’s gala outfit, meanwhile, remained a mystery, mostly because no one ever saw it. That year, he declined to make the trip to Zurich altogether. “Cristiano sends his regrets.”

If the trophy didn’t have his name on it, Ronaldo was no longer interested in sitting in the front row to applaud someone else. And even though he was entitled to a vote as the captain of Portugal, Ronaldo didn’t bother to return his ballot either. (Messi, also a national team skipper, picked exclusively Barça and Argentina teammates: Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Sergio Agüero.) So as FIFA ran highlights of the three finalists, Messi and Xavi performed the standard awards show ritual of politely nodding and clapping from their seats, while Ronaldo was present only in a photo, wearing a Real Madrid shirt, projected on the big screen.

When the long-retired Brazilian Ronaldo opened the golden envelope, Messi was anointed the best footballer on the planet once more, with 47.88 percent of the vote. Cristiano was second. Again. This was the shape of every conversation now. FIFA’s team of the year for 2011 included nine players from Real Madrid and Barcelona, but Messi and Ronaldo took up most of the oxygen. Not only did picking one or the other align you with a permanent rooting interest, it also said something about your worldview, your values, and how much you cared about style or trophies. For fans and sponsors, it was almost impossible to stay neutral.

That didn’t stop at least one brand from trying.

The luxury German car company Audi first entered the fray on the side of Florentino Pérez’s Galácticos. At a time when there seemed to be nothing glitzier than the white shirts of Real stuffed with superstars, sponsors were falling over each other to grab some of the magic for themselves. With what turned out to be perfect timing, Audi did that shortly before the club signed David Beckham in 2003. Real asked the automaker if it could supply transportation to ferry Beckham around all those unveiling events.

There was just one thing. Real needed not just one car, but three.

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