Ronaldo reveals plan to ‘checkmate’ Messi on the pitch after Louis Vuitton collaboration

Ronaldo reveals plan to ‘checkmate’ MessiConfirms desire to finish as greatest everTwo came together for iconic photoshoot

WHAT HAPPENED? Two of the game’s greatest ever players came together and faced off over a chessboard to help produce an advertising campaign for designer brand Louis Vuitton ahead of the World Cup. Pitting the two trailblazers together, Ronaldo spoke on the shoot and said he wished to take the rivalry further.

WHAT HE SAID: Talking ahead of what is set to be both Ronaldo and Messi’s final World Cup, the 37-year-old said: “It will be my fifth World Cup, I’m focused and extremely confident that it will go well.

“We’re doing checkmate in life, not just in chess,” He added, referring to the photoshoot: “Let’s see. It would be nice. Since it happened in a chess game, in football it would be more.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ronaldo and Messi have spent the last decade and then some continually raising the bar and pushing each other to unfathomable new heights on the football pitch, each smashing records in a bid to be remembered as the game’s greatest ever player. Neither has won the World Cup, though, and bowing out with football’s top prize could be key to cementing that legacy.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO? While away with Portugal, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has all of his focus on trying to help them lift the World Cup for the first time ever. Beyond that, his future in club football remains uncertain following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.