The sporting rivalry and comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has added a new and unexpected chapter.
A player who represents Ivory Coast and plays for Villareal caused a stir by comparing them using an analogy between a famous anime and both soccer legends.
“Messi is Goku and Cristiano is…”
In Just Riadh’s new blog posted on YouTube on December 5, Nicolas Pépé reviews his soccer career: his first steps in France‘s Ascenso, his time at Arsenal where he won the FA Cup and the 2020 Community Shield, his season at Nice, and his current experience in Spain.
However, one of the moments that stole the show was when they discussed the talent of CR7 and Messi, as Pépé claimed that the Argentine captain is better than the Portuguese, but he did so in an unusual way: by referring to the famous anime “Dragon Ball Z“:
“Cristiano Ronaldo gives a lot of interviews and talks a lot about Messi, and that’s how you realize he’s number 2,” he said, and then asked, “Do you know Dragon Ball Z? Do you know who Vegeta is? He always talked like that, angry. And who didn’t talk? Goku. That’s it. Messi is Goku. Cristiano is Vegeta,” he explained.
In addition, to give another example relating soccer to cartoons, the Ivorian described Leo as ‘Naruto‘ and CR7 as ‘Sasuke‘ for the same reason. “He’s frustrated that someone smaller is always ahead of him,” he added.
When told that the 40-year-old Portuguese player is 46 goals away from reaching 1,000 goals in his professional career and becoming the only player to achieve such a feat, Pépé did not seem impressed and downplayed the achievement:
“1,000 goals? Since he arrived, he’s scored 200 penalties, 200. Messi knows how to score goals, make passes, dribble, get the team playing, create space. Messi does that; Cristiano doesn’t,” he said.
Although Pépé’s comparisons sparked debate and divided opinions among sports and anime fans, what did become clear is that soccer’s greatest rivalry is far from over, even after two decades and despite the numbers, goals, assists, and titles of both legends.
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