Amidst the disappointment of Cristiano Ronaldo getting ruled out of Thursday's contest with Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, another discussion surrounding the two GOATs has now erupted. In the centre of the development are rookie Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho and his veteran teammate Angel Di Maria.
According to reports, Di Maria has asked Garnacho to quit copying Cristiano Ronaldo and start following Messi instead! Teen winger Garnacho has openly claimed that the Portuguese legend is his idol and often hits Cristiano's 'Siuu' celebration after scoring for Manchester United.
ALSO READ | Man City's Erling Haaland considering Real Madrid transfer because of Lionel Messi
“The only thing I wouldn’t do is celebrate Cristiano. I would score the goal and I would do like Messi does. I’ll stick with that,” Goal.com quoted Di Maria as saying.
"He has a lot of future, a very big future. It depends on him, on his head, to be able to handle it. I don’t have much to say, there’s a reason he’s playing for Manchester United,” Di Maria, who won the Copa America and FIFA World Cup under Messi reportedly added.
Interestingly, Di Maria and Garnacho are both among the elite bunch to have played alongside the two greats. While Garnacho and Ronaldo shared the dressing room at Old Trafford, Di Maria, also a former Red Devil, was the Portuguese star's teammate at Real Madrid.
Despite being at the receiving end of trolls back home, 19-year-old Garnacho never stopped idolising CR7. Once, he even went to the extent of saying, “In Argentina, they teach you to hate Cristiano Ronaldo. They don't show his matches on live TV. I had to watch his games on illegal broadcasts.”
Paulo Dybala, another Argentine star to have played under Messi in the national colours made news when he stated that, "I told Cristiano Ronaldo that he is hated in Argentina." Dybala and Ronaldo were teammates in Italy's Juventus.