Klopp in awe of 'extraordinary' Messi and Ronaldo amid World Cup achievements

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messi-lionel/vgOOdZbd/"]Messi[/a] surpassed Miroslav Klose's all-time scoring record with a brace in Monday's 2-0 victory over Austria at Dallas Stadium in Arlington. [/p][p]Meanwhile, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Ronaldo[/a] bagged a brace against Uzbekistan, which saw him become the first player to score at six World Cups. [/p][p]Both players are having excellent tournaments so far, pushing themselves to the limits in the twilight of their careers. [/p][p]Former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] boss Klopp has been one of many stunned by the pair, who he believes should be cherished in what might be their final World Cup. [/p][p][b]"As a mere spectator, it naturally captivates me a bit because they are the best players of the last 10, 15 years. [/b][/p][p][b]"But what was great to see was this: after the first game, in which Cristiano Ronaldo was heavily criticised - even I noticed that - to then strike back like that, and at 41 years old with an extremely lively, intense performance, I was very pleased.  [/b][/p][embed guid="c6c488f0-9b76-458e-89ad-30136d876af7" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2069142191641948279?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]“The fact that he's still so bothered at his age when something doesn't work out is extraordinary, and his reaction is all the more impressive." [/p][p][b]"It's extraordinary that we get to experience this generation. It's special. And when we briefly saw each other on the sidelines and Messi kindly included us in the line of well-wishers, even as a 59-year-old, I realised just how special something like that can be.  [/b][/p][p][b]“Because it was special. I was just as happy to see my former player [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mac-allister-alexis/fDPhMB8M/"]Alexis Mac Allister[/a] and have a quick chat with him. But then Messi came along. And that's something else entirely.” [/b][/p][p]Messi now has 18 total World Cup goals for his illustrious career, while Ronaldo has 10 as both Argentina and Portugal push on to the next round. [/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]