Former Portugal and Manchester United winger Nani has broken down what he has seen from both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi at the World Cup so far.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are both making their record-tying sixth World Cup tournament appearances for Portugal and Argentina respectively.
The 41-year-old Manchester United legend is tipped to be playing at his final World Cup competition and has remained central to Roberto Martinez’s attacking set-up.
Barcelona legend Messi, who is also likely to be at his final World Cup tournament, is captaining his country’s title defence in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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Nani on Cristiano Ronaldo’s approach being the exact opposite to 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo has netted three times in four matches for Portugal at the World Cup, with Roberto Martinez’s men through to the round of 16 at the competition.
Lionel Messi, on the other hand, has scored six times in three matches ahead of Argentina’s World Cup round-of-32 clash against Cabo Verde on Friday.
Nani, who played alongside Ronaldo for Portugal and Manchester United, highlighted that Messi will “always” walk on the pitch to conserve his energy for Argentina.
However, the 39-year-old Man Utd cult hero added that Ronaldo won’t adopt the same approach as Messi and will use his energy against defenders in close contact.
“Messi is always walking because he saves energy when the ball comes to him,” Nani said at the Portugal Football Summit in Miami, as per The Athletic.
“He’s explosive and at his best in the final third. Ronaldo is the same in that it’s almost like: ‘Don’t waste your energy sprinting 60 yards.’
“[But] Cristiano cannot walk on the pitch. He doesn’t walk too much. If the defender has the ball close to him, then he doesn’t let that defender go. He runs.”
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Man Utd cult hero Nani defends Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo from the criticism that he receives about not tracking back
Ronaldo’s role at the World Cup has put the spotlight on him and the Al Nassr superstar has found himself criticised for his different actions on the pitch.
Nani has now insisted that other players, including Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, will have their teams adapt for them as much as Portugal does for Ronaldo.
“We need to understand that Brazil will do it [run] for Neymar,” he said.
“France will do for Mbappe, Argentina will do it for Messi. There is no discussion in these teams because and don’t have people so famous like Ronaldo.”
Ronaldo scored a second-half equaliser for Portugal from the spot-kick against Croatia on Friday before he was later withdrawn from the round-of-32 match.
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