Gary Lineker has poked fun at Piers Morgan as their social media debate regarding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued.
The BBC anchor is a firm believer in Messi being the greatest of all time, whilst Morgan has been vocal in his belief that Ronaldo ranks above them all. Saturday night though belonged to the Argentine as he and his country marched on into the last eight of the World Cup.
Messi, who enjoyed a record breaking evening on his 1000th career appearance, scored the opener for the South Americans in what was a lacklustre first-half against Australia. The PSG star's performance earned huge plaudits in the BBC studio - with Rio Ferdinand in particular waxing lyrical about the forward.
Morgan wasn't a fan of the praise, suggesting that it was excessive. He said: "The relentless Messi fan-girling by the whole BBC punditry team is getting excruciatingly obsequious. Getting worried one of them might have an ‘accident’ in the studio. Calm yourselves, lads. He had a good game against an average side. See how he does against a good team."
Lineker didn't take long to hit back at the divisive broadcaster as he responded: "Good to see you emerge briefly from deep inside the bowels of Ronaldo to express your opinion."
Ferdinand had said: “Messi has put on the best individual performance we’ve seen at this World Cup so far, by a mile. Showboating, laying shots on a plate for teammates, and the crowd – it was almost god-like, after every single thing he does.”
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Alan Shearer added: “What a second half performance from him, and the first half with his goal. We’ve spoken about his ability many times before, the hunger and desire and ability to run with the ball attracts so many defenders to him which then frees up his teammates. The story is on him but what a performance from Australia to come back into the game and that sort of epitomises them in this tournament."
Morgan has often used his Twitter to double down on his view regarding Ronaldo. His relationship with the veteran contributed to the Portuguese star conducting a tell-all interview with him. His bold remarks ultimately saw the forward leave Old Trafford and he's now on the lookout for a new club whilst harbouring hopes of World Cup success.
Ronaldo has scored for his country in this tournament - which makes him the first man to score at five World Cups - and will be gearing up for their clash with Switzerland on Tuesday. Messi and Argentina have booked themselves a last eight clash with the Netherlands.
