Cristiano Ronaldo's remark on Georgina Rodriguez, Lionel Messi and his wife sum up rivalry
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been rivals for more than a decade, but the pair still have mutual respect and their partners share a bond.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been locked in a fierce rivalry throughout their careers, yet there's a surprising level of respect between the two football icons. Despite constantly vying for the title of the world's best player, Ronaldo has openly discussed their mutual admiration and even revealed that their partners are friends.
On Monday, Ronaldo's partner Georgina Rodriguez announced her engagement to the Al-Nassr star. Flaunting an impressive engagement ring on Instagram, Rodriguez joyfully posted: "Yes I do. In this and in all my lives." The couple have two children, with Rodriguez also helping to raise Ronaldo's other three children. The former Manchester United ace has previously commented on the friendly rapport between Rodriguez and Messi's wife Antonella Roccuzzo, indicating that the intense competition between the two doesn't spill over into their personal lives.
"Amazing player, he is magic, top. As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years, we share. So, I have great relationship with him," Ronaldo said in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2022.
"I'm not friend of him in terms of, what I mean is a friend is the guy who is with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a team-mate. He's a guy that I really respect, the way he always speaks about me.
"Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A good guy who does everything for football."
In 2020, Rodriguez expressed her affection for Roccuzzo and the Messi family by commenting on a social media birthday post for their son Thiago, writing: "How quickly they grow. Happy birthday,".
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Ronaldo and Rodriguez's relationship began in 2016, and there has been much speculation about their marriage plans. Engagement rumours swirled when Rodriguez was spotted wearing a ring during the 2018 World Cup.
Although not officially wed, Ronaldo frequently refers to Rodriguez as his wife, as he did in an acceptance speech in Dubai last year: "It's a big pleasure to win this trophy. My oldest son is here, and my wife [Georgina] is here," he said upon receiving the Best Middle Eastern player award.
When previously asked about potential wedding plans with Rodriguez, Ronaldo shared: "I always tell her: 'When we get that click.' Like everything with our life, and she knows what I'm talking about," he told Piers Morgan. "It could be in a year or it could be in six months or it could be in a month. I'm 1000% sure that it'll happen."
Rodriguez's engagement to Ronaldo should finally end the constant questions from friends. The 31-year-old said in her 'I Am Georgina' Netflix documentary how the topic of marriage has been a recurring joke.
"They're always joking about the wedding. 'When is the wedding?'" Rodriguez recounted. "Since Jennifer Lopez's song The Ring Or When came out, they started singing it to me. And well, this is not up to me."
Meanwhile, Messi and Roccuzzo have been happily wed since 2017 and share three children. The childhood sweethearts lost touch when Messi moved to Spain for his career with Barcelona, only to rekindle their relationship.
"At 13 years old I went to Spain and we kind of lost contact," Messi shared on the Willing to Everything podcast. "Communication was much more difficult than now.
"It was through letters, emails or some international phone calls which were expensive. So we stopped talking and distanced ourselves a lot. At 16 or 17 years old we reconnected."
