Two of the football world's undisputed biggest names, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, have lit up social media a day before the first kickoff at the FIFA World Cup 2022. The two rivals posted a photo together for the first time on their respective Instagram handles playing a game of chess with the caption, ‘Victory is a state of mind’. The photo is a promotion for the fashion label, Louis Vuitton and has been shot by American portrait photographer, Annie Leibovitz.
The image has been liked more than five crore times already only on Ronaldo and Messi's handles.
Even Indian cricket great, Virat Kohli, seemed in awe of the photo, commenting "What a picture" on Ronaldo's post.
“He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me. Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they’re from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A good guy who does everything for football,” he said.
Meanwhile, Argentina captain Lionel Messi is playing his last FIFA World Cup in his own words. Messi has achieved everything in football except for the glory of the World Cup. Heading into the Qatar World Cup, Messi has enjoyed good goal-scoring form for his club PSG. The star forward has netted 12 goals and provided 14 assists in 19 club appearances this season.
About Annie Leibovitz
The iconic photograph has been framed by portrait specialist, Annie Leibovitz who is renowned for some iconic photographs already.
In 1980, Leibovitz took one of the most iconic photographs in rock ’n’ roll history for Rolling Stone magazine. The portrait featured artist Yoko Ono with her husband John Lennon. The former, late Beatles singer posed nude for this.
The photographer has had subjects like Whoopie Goldberg, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Kate Moss, Queen Elizabeth II, Mohammed Ali and more.
