Carles Puyol, a former Spanish football player, shared his thoughts about the two greatest players in football history, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He noted that he didn’t become sad when they didn’t perform well. Both dominated football for 15 years and now need a break because they are ageing. He noted that still, both players faced criticism and harsh comments when they didn’t perform well.
Puyol commented that these greatest rivals in football history the Spanish football to its peak and shared the stage for fifteen straight years. But now they are ageing, becoming more fragile to long-term injuries, and that’s why they avoid playing hard and going fast and aggressively as they were before.
Carles Puyol played his 15-year entire career for Barcelona and played with both Ronaldo and Messi. He said the greatest players in 21st century are now in last phase of their careers. Talking about their performance, he said that it didn’t make him sad when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi didn’t perform well.
After performing for over 20 years, Puyol thinks they need a break as they are not robots. He mentioned that the Portuguese and Argentine have performed and outdone everybody in 15 years of consistency. No player does it like them.
“Now they are ageing; they also understand that their bodies are now more fragile to injuries, so they no longer go hard at defenders because they want to avoid those long-term injuries at that age, it’s difficult to recover in quick speed from injuries. People should just be grateful they still see these two guys playing”.
The former Spanish and Barcelona captain mentioned that at 33 and 35, most players retire and enjoy the rest of their lives with their families or play in China or USA for vacation, signing contracts with small clubs.
But Ronaldo and Messi are still playing on the highest levels and performing surprisingly well compared to other young players. But sometimes, they face harsh criticism if things go wrong. Puyol urged football fans to stop thinking that Ronaldo and Messi were still in their mid-20s when they outperformed everyone.
He suggested that instead of getting mad when they didn’t perform well, enjoy their last days in football because everyone will soon miss them when they leave.