Boateng reveals question Lionel Messi asked him when Cristiano Ronaldo was at Juventus

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·4 de octubre de 2023

Boateng reveals question Lionel Messi asked him when Cristiano Ronaldo was at Juventus

Highlights

Boateng reveals a question that Messi asked him about Serie A, showing the Argentine's competitiveness and interest in Ronaldo's performance.
Boateng admits to lying about Messi being the best player in the world in order to secure his dream of playing for Barcelona.
Boateng affirms that Ronaldo's controversies should not diminish his incredible goal-scoring ability, emphasizing the tendency for people to quickly forget and criticize.

Kevin-Prince Boateng has revealed a conversation he once had with Lionel Messi and it just proves - once again - that the pint-sized Argentine has always had that elite mentality that sets him above the rest. Some may forget that Boateng and Messi once graced the turf at the same time and that may be because the former donned the Barcelona strip on just four occasions in his half-a-season stay.

Known as somewhat of a journeyman, Boateng endured a loan spell at one of Europe's biggest powerhouses just years after plying his trade for English outfit Portsmouth, going from the likes of Jamie O'Hara and Younes Kaboul to Messi and Neymar.

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In terms of Messi, despite winding down his illustrious career in the Miami sunshine, his and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry is one that will continue to be a conversation-filler in years to come. They both had a tendency to rip up the Spanish top tier year upon year and are considered two of the greatest footballers of all time and now, Boateng has revealed something very interesting about the duo's respect-driven feud as he claims Messi also had one eye on how Ronaldo was getting on.

Boateng only spoke to Messi once

The former Barça man joined Rio Ferdinand and his co-hosts on the ex-Manchester United defender’s VIBE with FIVE podcast and covered an array of topics. Interestingly, he revealed a conversation he had with the seven-time Ballon d’Or during their crossover in Spain.

“Look at Lionel Messi, he’s a captain. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t need to speak because he’s going to speak on the pitch. In the dressing room, he speaks to just one person."

Ferdinand then quizzed him by asking whether Messi ever congratulated the forward after a game.

“No, we spoke on time in the shower because he asked me if it’s difficult to score in Italy. Because Ronaldo, at that time, was in Italy, and he asked me ‘Would I score a lot of goals?’ and I said ‘You score wherever you want, you know, you’re Messi’. “But there, you could see the rivalry a little bit. They respect each other a lot, but you could see he was asking: ‘Is it difficult?’. I said it’s more difficult because it’s more important in Italy to keep a clean sheet at the back than to score, you know.

Ferdinand then asked whether Messi could’ve taken the Serie A by storm and emulated similar numbers to what Ronaldo produced.

“Yeah. He can score whenever he wants, just like Ronaldo. These two, they could go anywhere.”

Ronaldo’s former teammate Ferdinand then went on to suggest that many fans’ opinions on the enigmatic Portugal international get clouded due to certain controversies, in which Boateng agreed wholeheartedly.

“Football is like this. One second and they forget everything. People try to attack him – what are you talking about? This guy scores every game, two, three [goals], whatever he did.”

– jueves, 5 de octubre de 2023

Boateng admits to lying about his answer in the Messi & Ronaldo debate

The old-age debate about who is the better footballer out of Messi and Ronaldo will never die, will it? Every fan, player and pundit have their preference, of course, but there is no disputing the two are head and shoulders above the rest of the cut.

Boateng, who had the pleasure of witnessing Messi first-hand at Barcelona, claimed that after training with the Argentinian magician, he had changed his mind about the world’s leading player.

Now, four years down the line and the former Ghana international has completed another U-turn in his choice, making the bold claim that he had to lie so that his dreams of representing Barcelona could become true.

“I remember that when I arrived in Barcelona, they immediately asked me who the best player in the world was. I had to say it was Lionel Messi, I lied. It was one of the biggest lies of my life. “Normally I always tell the truth, but I lied because it was the only way to wear the Barcelona shirt. I always supported Real Madrid when I was a teenager. I love Cristiano Ronaldo. But they told me I had to say that, otherwise I wouldn't play.”