Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi look as though they will have one final dance together on a football field next week - although it won't be in the circumstances that they have both been used to in their glittering careers.
Many El Clasicos, a Champions League final, international battles and head-to-heads when Ronaldo played for Juventus all occured, though his time at Manchester United and their subsequent failure to qualify for the Champions League put an end to any of that for the near future.
A move to Al-Nassr just before the new year seemed to be the nail in the coffin for any rendezvous between the highly-heralded pair, with Messi still strutting his stuff at Paris Saint-Germain and rumours of a move to Inter Miami meaning they would not be able to play against. one another in club competitions.
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Ronaldo further said during his oddly-timed interview with Piers Morgan that a dream of his would be to beat Messi in the World Cup final to lift the famous trophy. He remarked that it would be "too good", though that did not come to pass.
The striker was caught crying in the tunnel after being knocked out in stunning circumstances by Morocco, who became the first African team to ever make a World Cup semi-final. Knowing that he will be 41 at his next World Cup, Ronaldo perhaps knew that his time to win the famed accolade was up - and that will have been salt in the wound once Messi took home the trophy in his swansong.
Regardless, Ronaldo's new club were meant to to face PSG last season, but COVID-19 woes saw the fixture postponed. Instead, the French giants added the fixture into their mid-season tour of Saudi Arabia that gets underway this January with the game against Al-Nassr set for the 19th.
In terms of the game, Al-Nassr won't be pushovers. The likes of former Arsenal keeper David Ospina, former Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo and Cameroon's World Cup hero Vincent Aboubakar all ply their trade at the league leaders, and with Rudi Garcia as their boss, predicting the score will be difficult - though the 58-year-old has shared his annoyance at the timing of the friendly.
"It (his debut) won't be with the Al-Nassr jersey. It will be a mix between Al Hilal and Al-Nassr," Garcia told L'Equipe. "As the coach of Al-Nassr, I cannot be happy with this match. For development, to see PSG, to see the great Parisian players, indeed it is a good thing. But we have a championship game three days later.
"In terms of scheduling, it could have been better thought out. But it's not a big deal, we are in the lead, we are happy. It is a difficult championship to win, but we intend to do it."
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