Last year, Cristiano Ronaldo said he would never trade his five UEFA Champions League trophies for a single World Cup title. Ronaldo dropped this bombshell of an admission amid a popular thought that Lionel Messi‘s 2022 World Cup win has put him ahead in the GOAT debate. While speaking to Essentially Sports in an exclusive interview, thanks to OCB Scores, former French midfielder Emmanuel Petit begged to differ with CR7 and his affinity to the UCL. Petit stressed that playing and winning titles with the national team is widely valued more than achieving for a club.

Emmanuel Petit notably shared the stage with Zinedine Zidane and current French coach Didier Deschamps in France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad. Knowing the importance of the World Cup title, Petit revealed he advises young players to prioritize it over any other prize in soccer.

Lionel Messi and World Cup winners are in a realm of their own according to Emmanuel Petit!

Towards the concluding portion of his Essentially Sports exclusive, Emmanuel Petit was asked to share his thoughts on the 2022 World Cup final. Petit was also asked if he partly supported Lionel Messi to win, despite his French affiliation. “I was very unhappy to lose that game. Because I’m a French guy,” Emmanuel Petit said. He continued, “I always say to the players nowadays. ‘You can win 10 Champions Leagues in a row. You’ll be in the history of football. But if you win one World Cup, that will put yourself in a different world. Among the best in the world.'”

Thereafter, the 1998 World Champion added that Messi had already scaled the peak of soccer’s best players. He implied the World Cup was the remaining piece of the jigsaw for the Argentine. Iterating that La Pulga’s win against France was bittersweet for the Frenchman in him, Petit recalled a similar Cristiano Ronaldo moment that broke French folks’ hearts.

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Petit is happy for Messi and Ronaldo even at the cost of a French heartbreak

If Lionel Messi and Co. beat France in 2022 to win the World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal beat Deschamps’ side in 2016 to win his first-ever UEFA Euro championship. 

“It was the same with Cristiano Ronaldo when they played the European tournament in 2016. When they reached the final against France in Stade de France. We were all asking the same question about Ronaldo. He didn’t win anything with the national team. And all of a sudden after he went out because of an injury, they won. He won a big trophy. It’s the same for Cristiano Ronaldo,” Emmanuel Petit told Essentially Sports.

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He added, “Those players when you look at what they have won in their respective clubs, that has been amazing. They’ve won trophies everywhere. But with their national teams, this is something you should expect from them. That happened for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016, and that happened later for Messi.” Thus, Petit is in awe of the two legends of the game. 

What are your thoughts on Petit’s take on the importance of international titles? Tell us in the comments.

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