Klopp on Ronaldo and Messi: It's exceptional that we have the opportunity to witness this generation

Jürgen Klopp has been an enthusiastic observer of the World Cup, praising the continued dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Liverpool manager made no secret of his admiration for how the two veterans continue to shine at the tournament.

"As a regular spectator, it's naturally captivating because they have been the best players of the last 10-15 years," Klopp commented in an interview with Sky Sports. "But what was great to see was how, after the first match where Cristiano Ronaldo was heavily criticised, he then hit back in that manner. I was very pleased. The fact that at his age he still gets so agitated when things don't go his way is exceptional. His reaction was even more impressive," stated the German specialist.

Jürgen Klopp was full of superlatives for Messi: "I've seen Lionel Messi live, and when you watch the match and see he covers 8 kilometres, you think: We've found the optimal distance. He's there in the decisive moment. But of course, that's not possible for everyone. Imagine if everyone only ran 8 kilometres."

For him, Messi's "walking" is actually the highest level of tactical precision.

"It's extraordinary to watch him, truly insane. People might say he's walking. I say he's scanning the pitch. I watched him often, even when the ball was elsewhere. I just wanted to see what he was doing. I think he's measuring distances. He knows exactly where he is and where he will position himself. Against Austria, he scored the first goal because he can. He scored the second because he wants to. And he missed a penalty, so he would have had six goals in two matches. That makes it sound like a World Cup is nothing. Zlatan Ibrahimović said Messi has five goals in one World Cup, while he himself hasn't scored in two," Jürgen Klopp continued.

"It's exceptional that we have the opportunity to witness this generation. It's special. When we briefly met on the touchline and Messi kindly greeted us, even as a 59-year-old, I realised how special something like that can be. Because it just was. I was so happy to see my former player Alexis Mac Allister and have a quick chat with him, but then Messi appeared, and that's something else entirely," he explained.