Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a much better World Cup group opener than his perennial rival, Lionel Messi.
While Ronaldo confidently slotted home his penalty and sailed a late free kick into the back of the net on Friday night, Messi saw his spot-kick saved and failed to beat the wall with his last-minute free kick from distance the next day.
Ronaldo netted a hat-trick against Spain, one of the top teams in the competition, to take the lead in the running for this year’s Ballon D’Or but, unfortunately for Messi, he was unable to muster his usual magic as Argentina had to settle for a draw with Iceland.
Plenty of viewers spotted this https://t.co/WOHDTMRmG3
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) June 16, 2018
There’s no denying the fact that the successes of both Portugal and Argentina for the next month are entirely dependent on how well Ronaldo and Messi play.
And, so far, the advantage is clearly with the former.
The body language of Messi showed that he had let the frustration get the better of him against Iceland, whereas Ronaldo used his anger as a means to motivate him to seize the game and make it his own.
More than a handful of supporters think that Ronaldo’s stunning performance against Spain was in Messi’s head when he stepped forward to take his penalty, which made the job of Icelandic stopper Hannes Halldorsson very straightforward.
Ronaldo is so deep in Messi’s head right now. pic.twitter.com/JxCNajFx0i
— Føřęßþ Břïðğěş 🏴🏴☠️ (@TheNotoriousFB) June 16, 2018
SO MESSI HAS MISSED.
RONALDO’S HATTRICK HAS RATTLED HIM.
— The Tribal Chief ☝🏾 (@OhioV1) June 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/liam_edwards8/status/1007994917543608320
Messi got too much of Ronaldo and his hatrick in his head …😂😂#ARGxISL
— Swipperry 🙏🇿🇦 (@sip_Swipper) June 16, 2018
messi rattled by ronaldo masterclass last night, he can’t get his head into the game
— hotlaps (@SirHotLaps) June 16, 2018
Messi is rattled by Ronaldo performance yesterday
— S.Z (@SXMMY_Z) June 16, 2018
Yeah Messi is finished. Ronaldo got Messi rattled.
— HK 🦦🇵🇸 (@Lebanese_Papi) June 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/ThatMunichNight/status/1007992084328923136
Messi’s been rattled by Ronaldo 😂
— FTP 🏁 (@DzHajjOmar) June 16, 2018
RONALDO IS IN MESSI’S FUCKIN HEAD OH MY THIS IS GREAT
— Matt ☃️ (@Matt__Cota) June 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/PonzaLT/status/1008001963223441408
Ronaldo is living rent free in Messi's head.
— Kaiser (@cameronjcox) June 16, 2018
