Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? USMNT star Weston McKennie picks his favourite
USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie has made his pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo while constructing his dream five-a-side team. The 25-year-old played with Ronaldo at Juventus for one season.
Messi and Ronaldo are two of the best players to ever grace the game, scoring over 800 goals for club and country and still going strong despite being on the wrong side of 30.
During their illustrious careers spanning two decades, each player has won big titles with club and country, as well as numerous individual honours. Now at the fag end of their careers, Messi and Ronaldo are plying their trade outside Europe. While Messi is at MLS side Inter Miami, Ronaldo plays for Saudi Pro League giants Al-Nassr.
While constructing his five-a-side dream team, McKennie picked Ronaldo over Messi as he made his picks between five pairs of players. The interaction - as uploaded by GOAL USA - went as follows:
"Messi or Ronaldo: Ronaldo"
"Vinicius Junior or Mbappe: Vinicius"
"Mo Salah or Bukayo Saka: Bukayo Saka"
"Harry Kane or Karim Benzema: Benzema"
"Alphonso Davies or Trent Alexander-Arnold: Alphonso"
In his first season at Juventus in 2020-21, McKennie played 46 times across competitions, contributing six goals and three assists. That campaign turned out to be Ronaldo's third and final one at the club, with the Portuguese bagging 36 goals and four assists in 44 outings across competitions.
How have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fared in international football in 2024?
Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been fabulous performers in international football. However, the legendary duo has endured underwhelming returns in 2024.
In seven games for Argentina, Messi has scored thrice and assisted twice. That includes a goal and an assist - both against Canada (in different games) - in their victorious 2024 Copa America campaign.
Despite the 37-year-old coming off injured midway through the second half of the title match against Colombia in Miami, Lautaro Martinez scored a 112th-minute winner. That made the Albiceleste the first team to win 16 Copa titles while Messi became the first player to win 45 titles with club and country, breaking a tie with his former Barcelona teammate Dani Alvez.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo also played seven games this year, scoring twice and assisting once. However, he went scoreless in five games at Euro 2024, where the Selecao lost to France on penalties (5-3) after a goalless 120 minutes.
It marked the first time the 39-year-old drew blanks in 11 major-tournament appearances.