(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)The greatest individual rivalry in soccer’s storied history came to a likely conclusion Thursday in the most absurd of circumstances: a lucrative mid-season exhibition match in sportswashed Saudi Arabia. It was Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi, Chapter 37, and it was eventful, perhaps even fun — but the most preposterous part was simply that it happened. It was fitting that Ronaldo, whose petulance and decline led to a divorce with Manchester United, would be there waiting. Before he'd even played played for the Saudi club, he was named captain of an all-star team comprising exclusively players from the Saudi Pro League's two fiercest rivals. Ronaldo had dreamed, in his explosive November interview with Piers Morgan, of deciding the rivalry once and for all in a World Cup final.
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