Victory is a state of mind: Messi and Ronaldo “Chess Game of the Century”, the last fight of the two world champions | Last 24 hours | udn Global

2022/11/21 24 hours around the corner


Messi and Ronaldo played chess on the LV suitcase, using the classic plaid design as a chessboard, which seemed to echo the confrontation between the two on the court. LV wrote “Victory is a state of mind” (Victory is a state of mind) for this photo. State of Mind) as a footnote.Figure / LV advertisement

▌Victory is a state of mind: Messi and Ronaldo “Chess Game of the Century”, the last fight of the two world champions

Text / Lai Yun

“The world is like chess, the world is unpredictable, laugh at the heroes.” The two world’s two football superstars Messi (Lionel Messi) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Cristiano Ronaldo) uploaded their LV on Instagram when the 2022 Qatar World Cup kicked off on the 20th The “Century in the Same Frame” image photo shot immediately sparked heated discussions and excited frenzy among fans. The two people in the picture are on the LV suitcase, using the classic plaid design as a chessboard to play chess, which seems to echo the confrontation between the two on the court. Wang, the “Melo Controversy” has also been a topic for fans and the media for many years. Now that Melo’s era is coming to an end, the two kings are still thinking about raising the “Hercules Cup” for their country.

LV also uploaded this photo, and wrote “Victory is a State of Mind” (Victory is a State of Mind) as a footnote – aptly connected to the excitement of the opening of the World Cup in Qatar. The World Cup in Qatar is full of topics both on and off the field. Off-field media focus includes the host country Qatar’s human rights disputes during the preparation process. Fans around the world who have been waiting for 4 years are paying attention to Messi and Ronaldo, the two most famous contemporary players. A great football player, playing in the World Cup for the fifth time-considering that Messi is 35 years old and Ronaldo is 37 years old, it is likely to be the last chance for the two to win back the Hercules Cup for their country.

Starting from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, LV has created suitcases for each World Cup since then; in 2010, LV also recruited Pelé from Brazil and Diego Maradona from Argentina. ) and France’s Zinedine Zidane, the three legendary football kings jointly took photos for the commercials. The “Same Frame” with Melo was shot by the well-known American photographer Annie Leibovitz. Football history has written a gorgeous page.

Together, Messi and Ronaldo have won a total of 12 Ballon d’Ors. For football fans from all over the world, since the two of them first showed their talents in 2003 and 2004, in just a few years, world football has entered the “Messi era”. In the past 20 years, most of the important awards in the football world – Golden Globe, World Footballer and European Golden Boot have been won by Messi and Ronaldo; although the media often emphasizes the competitive relationship between Messi and Ronaldo, However, there are actually no rumors of discord between the two, but apart from competitions and awards, Messi and Ronaldo have hardly been in the same frame. Since Ronaldo left La Liga in 2018, Melo has no chance to play together, so now LV This photo is also regarded as a “miracle” by fans.

From left: 37-year-old Ronaldo and 35-year-old Messi are both competing in the World Cup for the fifth time. This World Football is regarded as the last of the two kings...
From left: 37-year-old Ronaldo and 35-year-old Messi are both competing in the World Cup for the fifth time. Has expressed intention to retire.Photo / Agence France-Presse

In fact, Messi and Ronaldo did not take pictures for LV in the studio together, but took pictures separately and then synthesized to produce this “same frame of the century” – considering that the two played together in La Liga in the past, Messi played for Barcelona and Ronaldo play for Real Madrid. The two giants are deadly rivals. Therefore, it is almost impossible for the souls of these two teams to shoot commercials together. Even sports brands are also evidence that Messi endorses Adidas and Ronaldo endorses NIKE. one side situation. All of the above, plus Messi and Ronaldo’s shooting costs are sky-high, so this LV photo is particularly shocking and rare.

In the advertisement photo, the chess game between Messi and Ronaldo also has its background. Chess website “The Chess” pointed out that it was the 2017 Norwegian World Chess King Carlsen (Magnu Carlsen) playing against the United States in the Norwegian Invitational Tournament. A chess game played by Hikaru Nakamura when he was a native chess player. The game ended in a draw. Carlson also commented on the LV photo, recalling that the chess game was of great significance to him and the process was difficult. Although he did not win, he did his best.

Carlsen has been ranked No. 1 in the world for 12 consecutive years, and Hikaru Nakamura is No. 2 in the world. The chess skills, popularity and commercial value of the two are evenly matched. Take the chess game between Carlson and Hikaru Nakamura to compare the last time Messi and Ronaldo played against each other. The opportunity to face off on the world stage can be said to be very ingenious, and it has deepened the expectations of fans. Can Messi and Ronaldo—Argentina and Portugal—go through the ranks of many football powerhouses and meet each other? Messi and Ronaldo put on the national team jersey for the first time in the World Cup in 2006, but the two never played against each other in the World Cup.

At this time, for Messi and Ronaldo, the two souls of the national team, to win, it is necessary not only personal genius skills, but also the leadership ability to lead the entire team, the ability to motivate players, and team partners. The comprehensive ability of the team, coupled with a bit of luck at the right time and place – football is never a game for one person. What Messi and Ronaldo carry on their shoulders is the expectation of the country and the responsibility of the team. We must lead every player to never Give up the mentality of Pinbo.

The “Victory is a State of Mind” written by LV for the advertisement photo is also compared with Messi and Ronaldo, who become the core of the team in the game, leading the overall situation like chess players , Striving towards the championship step by step, always persevering in hard work, and the mentality of never giving up-if there is no confidence in the team to win, victory will definitely not come.

Argentina have been searching for
Argentina has been looking for the “next Diego” for decades since winning the World Cup under the leadership of Maradona in 1986, until Messi, who showed his talent as a teenager, appeared.Figure / Archyde.com

Ronaldo at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.Photo / Associated Press
Ronaldo at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.Photo / Associated Press

Looking back, since Argentina won the World Cup in Mexico under the leadership of Maradona in 1986, although it has maintained its status as a major football country in South America, it has never been able to win another Hercules Cup. For decades, the whole of Argentina has been looking for ” The next Diego (Maradona’s name)”, until the appearance of Messi, who showed his genius in his youth, the love of football and the desire for the world football championship in the whole country were placed at Messi’s feet in an instant.

However, Argentina puts all its attention on Messi, and the resources and environment that the country can provide are far inferior to those of La Liga and Barcelona; in addition to Barcelona gathering first-class star partners, the Argentine Football Association has long been notorious for corruption, and has repeatedly burst out of debts. Salaries, power struggles, scandals at the expense of players.

On the other hand, due to lack of growth hormone in his youth, Messi traveled to Spain and stayed in Barcelona for 17 years when the Argentine local team could not provide support, but Barcelona extended an olive branch and expressed their willingness to provide medical support. He still chooses to wear the Argentine blue and white jersey instead of playing for Spain, where he has obtained nationality; in addition, after Messi became the captain, he paid out of his own pocket several times for various outrageous expenses of the Argentine Football Association. Argentina’s harsh criticism of Messi has often left fans in other countries with grievances.

Messi is a legend in the football world, shouldering the ardent expectations of his home country Argentina and the love of fans around the world. Pictured is Kadash...
Messi is a legend in the football world, shouldering the ardent expectations of his home country Argentina and the love of fans around the world. The picture shows the portrait of Lionel Messi on the streets of India on the eve of the World Cup in Qatar.Photo / European News Agency

The importance of Ronaldo to the Portuguese national team is self-evident. Originally, Portugal was not a very good team in Europe surrounded by football powers such as France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. However, the appearance of Ronaldo, Become Portugal’s hope of winning glory in the arena. This can also be seen from the fact that when teams from various countries play against Portugal, they must take care of Ronaldo heavily.

However, the expectations of the entire country have also become the greatest pressure. Compared with the outstanding performances of Messi and Ronaldo in professional clubs, their achievements in the national team and even as captains are always relatively unimpressive. In Argentina and Portugal, these two legendary superstars are often criticized and magnified, and the love they receive is not as good as other places in the world.

For example, in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Argentina tied Iceland 1:1, defeated Croatia 0:3, and fell into the danger of being eliminated in the group stage. In an instant, the whole country blamed Messi as the culprit and scolded him “Not worthy of being the captain”, completely forgetting that Argentina won the World Cup ticket by relying on Messi’s hat-trick to reverse Ecuador in the qualifying round. Criticism only died down when Argentina beat Nigeria 2-1, thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and defender Marcos Rojo.

And Ronaldo was also criticized by fans in his own country for “emphasizing the club more than the national team”. In addition, compared with Messi’s relatively low-key and restrained personality, Ronaldo’s outgoing personality has attracted more criticism for him-until 2016. In the European Cup, Ronaldo was injured in the final against France. Although he tried to hold on, he could only be carried to the sidelines on a stretcher in tears in the 23rd minute. However, Ronaldo did not give up the game, so the fans saw C Ronaldo limped and yelled, commanded, and cheered on the sidelines, as if becoming another coach of the national team. In the end, Portugal scored in overtime and won the first European Cup championship in history with 1:0. Although Ronaldo did not finish the game, he The performance still moved the whole of Portugal.

Since Messi put on the national team jersey, he has not won the championship trophy for Argentina for a long time (Argentina won the Beijing Olympic football gold medal in 2008, but the gold content of Olympic football is far lower than the European Cup, America’s Cup and World Football). It is the most common criticism of Argentine fans against him, and it is also his great regret-this regret was only broken in the 2021 Copa America final when Argentina defeated Brazil. At that time, the entire team lifted and threw captain Messi to Skyrim, let’s celebrate. Messi, who raised the championship trophy to the team at the awards ceremony, seemed to have truly become a hero recognized by the Argentines at this time.

Today, Messi leads the Argentine national team, which has accumulated 36 unbeaten records since July 2019, and is fighting for the World Cup as a big favorite. Ronaldo, who has exceeded the retirement age of ordinary players, also has a strong final fight It means that they are eager to win the highest honor in the football world for Portugal. The hope of the two legendary football kings to lift the Hercules Cup for the country in their careers is in this World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina will play against Saudi Arabia at 6 pm Taiwan time on the 22nd, which is the first match of the group stage; Portugal will face Ghana at 00:00 Taiwan time on the 25th.

Messi, who raised the championship trophy at the 2021 America's Cup awards ceremony, seems to have truly become a hero recognized by the Argentines at this time...
Messi, who raised the championship trophy at the 2021 America’s Cup awards ceremony, seems to have truly become a hero recognized by the Argentines at this time.Photo / Associated Press

In the 2021 Copa America final, Argentina beat Brazil. At that time, the entire team lifted the captain Messi and threw it into the sky....
In the 2021 Copa America final, Argentina beat Brazil. At that time, the entire team lifted captain Messi, threw it into the sky, and celebrated wildly.Photo / Associated Press


To watch more articles, please subscribe to the corner international facebook page:

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.