Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo called on those who love him to respect his colleague Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo urged fans not to hate Messi

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the top two stars of world football for more than a decade. There have been comparisons of these two superstars. That’s why fans of both Messi and Ronaldo often have endless wars of words. 

And recently, Ronaldo has called on his fans to respect Messi. CR7 shared in a recent interview:

“If you love me, don’t hate Messi and vice versa. We both changed the history of world football and deserve respect. The rivalry between us? I don’t think We have shared the football stage together for the past 15 years. 

I won’t sаy that me and Messi are friends. Simply because we have never had dinner together. We are colleagues and respect each other.

Messi follows his path, and I follow mine. We have both now left Europe. He did his job well and so did I.”, Ronaldo emphasized.

The era of Messi and Ronaldo is gradually coming to an end. Both stars have reached the other side of their careers and are no longer playing in Europe. Messi is currently playing for Inter Miami in MLS, while Ronaldo plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.

France Football magazine has published the shortlist of the 2023 Ballon d’Or nominees.

For the first time since 2005, the shortlist does not include Cristiano Ronaldo.

Besides Ronaldo, Neymar is another star that did not appear on the shortlist. This is the second year in a row that the Brazilian striker has not been included in the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or nominations. He has just left PSG to follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps to Saudi Pro League, wearing Al-Hilal shirt.

In the shortlist of 30 candidates, in addition to familiar stars such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, there are also some players named for the first time such as Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala , Julian Alvarez…

Last year, Messi was not on the shortlist for the first time since 2005. But this year, the Argentina captain is the number 1 candidate for the prestigious individual title of world football this year. Now when he has a successful season at PSG, and especially the world championship with Argentina. However, Erling Haaland is also considered capable of winning after a successful first season with Man City.Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the stars who are winning the most Golden Balls in history as they have won 7 and 5 times respectively. Last year, the Ballon d’Or was awarded to Karim Benzema, who is also currently playing in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Ittihad. 

Shortlist of Golden Ball nominations for me𝚗 and wоmen 2023

The me𝚗’s Golden Ball will be voted on by 180 journalists from around the world, each representing a different country.

They ranked their top five players on a shortlist of 30 in order of merit. The first ranked player receives 5 points, the second ranked player receives 4 4 points…

The overall winner is confirmed by the highest total number of votes. In case of equal points, the Golden Ball is awarded to the person with the most votes in first place.Journalists were instructed that individual performances should be the basis for voting, with team honors being a secondary factor.

The Golden Ball award ceremony takes place on October 30, 2023. The Ballon d’Or will continue its updated policy of taking into account performance for a season (August-July) rather than a calendar year (January-December).

Shortlist of 30 nominees for the 2023 Golden Ball

Josko Gvardiol (Leipzig / Man City)

Andre Onana (Inter Milan / Man United)

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid / Al-Ittihad)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)

Randal Kolo Muani (Frankfurt / PSG)

Jude Bellingham (Dortmund / Real Madrid)

Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)

Ruben Dias (Manchester City)

Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan)

Yassine Bounou (Sevilla / Al-Hilal)

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

Bernardo Silva (Man City)

Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)

Kim Min-Jae (Napoli / Bayern Munich)

Luka Modric (Real Madrid)

Julian Alvarez (Man City)

Victor Osimhen (Napoli)

Ilkay Gundogan (Man City / Barcelona)

Rodri (Man City)

Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)

Harry Kane (Tottenham / Bayern Munich)

Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Erling Haaland (Man City)

Lionel Messi (PSG / Inter Miami)