Football fans can be divided into two: those who believe that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer of his generation, and those who are convinced that the unofficial title goes to Cristiano Ronaldo. The eternal discussion and the incessant comparison between the two, which has been going on for over two decades, was managed by the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz to capture and summarize in one frame, which has already become an iconic image.
The photo of the two soccer giants sitting side by side and playing chess, which was published yesterday (Saturday) as part of an advertising campaign by the fashion brand “Louis Vuitton”, soon went viral. It was published yesterday evening, and after Messi and Ronaldo shared it on social networks, it has already received close to 80 million likes in total. Although less than 24 hours have passed since the photo was published, it has already become the fourth most popular photo in Instagram history.
Victory is a State of Mind. A long tradition of crafting trunks photographed by annieleibovitz for Louis Vuitton pic.twitter.com/0TsieZP40P
— Cristiano Ronaldo (Cristiano) November 19, 2022
The timing of the publication of the photo – on the eve of the opening of the World Cup, which is expected to be the last chance for the teenage stars to win the World Cup – added a dimension of emotion to the photo. Although soccer fans around the world got to see Messi and Ronaldo play against each other many times, especially when the two starred in Barcelona and Real Madrid and often met in the Spanish league, they have never actually been photographed together for an advertising campaign, and have turned down dozens of offers over the years.
So what made them agree this time? Money, of course. According to reports, tens of millions were invested in the picture, which was created in less than an hour and was apparently taken in New York. With 497 million followers, Ronaldo is the number 1 Instagram post in the world today and according to previous publications, he charges a huge price of close to 2.5 million euros for each post. Messi, who maintains the third most popular Instagram account in the world, charges 1.7 million dollars per post, and one can only guess how high was the amount that “Louis Vuitton” paid the two not only to publish them on their personal accounts, but also to stand in the same place together and take a picture.
The famous photographer Annie Leibovitch is also known as one of the most expensive in her field, and charges about 70 thousand dollars per hour of work. Therefore, the estimates are that the picture cost “Louis Vuitton” at least 5 million dollars, probably much more. According to some estimates, the amount ranges from 15 to 20 million dollars.
Vigilant surfers noticed the investment in the smallest details in the picture. So, for example, the suitcase that holds the chessboard used by Messi and Ronaldo in the picture, is actually a replica of the suitcase that carried the World Cup in the 2018 World Cup, before it was hoisted by the French team. The presence of the suitcase in the picture actually symbolizes the battle between Messi and Ronaldo not only for winning the World Cup, but also the battle for consciousness and legacy, and for who will ultimately be remembered as the greatest footballer of all time.
this might be the craziest and smartest advert ever ???????????? pic.twitter.com/Fczc3tnzQ8
— george (StokeyyG2) November 19, 2022
The box under… ???? pic.twitter.com/DSHRbB2Wa9
— TC (Total Christian) November 19, 2022
In the controversial interview that Ronaldo recently had with journalist Piers Morgan, he was asked, among other things, about his relationship with Leo Messi, his sworn rival, and said: “Leo is an amazing, wonderful player… We have shared the stage for 16 years, so I have a wonderful relationship with him. We Not friends in the classic sense, we don’t talk on the phone or meet outside the field, but for me, he is like a teammate. I have enormous respect for him as a human being, also because of the compliments he gives me at every opportunity. Even our partners are friends and there is a lot of respect between them, because Both are from Argentina. What can be said about Leo Messi? He is a great guy, who does great things for football.”
Messi and the Argentina team were drawn to Group C in Qatar, where they will play against Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland. Portugal will play in Group H against Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea. According to the betting agencies, Argentina’s winning ratio in the World Cup is the third among the participating teams. Portugal with Ronaldo who is in the midst of a deep professional crisis at Manchester United, with the ninth highest ratio.