Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo might team up for the first time ever after getting a special invitation.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo might team up for the first time ever after getting invited to a special farewell game for a former teammate. Both stars played with Carlos Tevez, who is having a big match to celebrate his career at the end of the year.
Tevez asked his old teammate Juan Roman Riquelme, the current president of Boca Juniors, for help organizing the game. Tevez had three stints with Boca, and now, five years after retiring, he’s finally getting his tribute match at the famous La Bombonera stadium this December.
Riquelme has given the green light, and officials are working to pick a date that fits with Boca’s schedule. Tevez had an amazing career, playing for top clubs and alongside some of the best players ever. Around 60 star players are expected to come, with Messi and Ronaldo being the biggest names.
Tevez played with Messi for Argentina and spent three seasons with Ronaldo at Manchester United before they both left the club the same summer. Messi and Ronaldo, who together have won 13 Ballon d’Or awards, are still active at Inter Miami and Al Nassr.
Tevez has openly shared his goal of bringing Messi and Ronaldo together in this game. When asked if they’d play against each other, he said, “We’ll get them together.” The 41-year-old keeps in touch with both via WhatsApp and joked, “I’ll go get [Ronaldo] myself.”
With a career lasting more than 20 years, Tevez has plenty of legendary friends to invite. He’s hoping to create one of the most star-studded games ever. He even wants goalkeepers Edwin Van der Sar and Gianluigi Buffon, and big defenders like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Giorgio Chiellini, and Leonardo Bonucci.
Other big names likely to join are Andrea Pirlo, Paul Scholes, Riquelme, and Wayne Rooney. Tevez said, “Van der Sar on one side and Buffon on the other. At centre back, probably Ferdinand, Vidic, Chiellini, Bonucci. Patrice Evra, my brother, has to be there. Midfielders like Pirlo, Scholes, Riquelme, and Rooney will definitely come.”
The plan is for one team to have his close football friends and neighborhood pals, with the other made up of players from his career. Tevez retired in 2022 and has since managed Rosario Central, Independiente, and Talleres in Argentina.