“Messi you overrated piece of s**t” - Pakistan cricketer deletes tweet after fans dig up old ‘best player in the world’ claim involving Ronaldo and Messi

Pakistan cricketer Shan Masood gave his unfiltered opinion on the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate in a tweet that has now been deleted.

The tweet, which can be seen in the image below, was posted after Barcelona's 2-1 La Liga loss against Real Madrid on April 21, 2012. Both Messi and Ronaldo started for their respective teams that night and made telling contributions.

Shan Masood's tweet which has now been deleted. (Image: @shani_official on Twitter)

Messi's solo run led to Alexis Sanchez's equalizer for Barca in the 70th minute, which canceled out Sami Khedira's first-half opener. Just three minutes later, a sublime through ball from Mesut Ozil found Ronaldo's run behind Barcelona's defense.

The Portugal icon slotted the ball past goalkeeper Victor Valdes to score the winner and proceeded to celebrate by doing the iconic 'calma' celebration at Camp Nou. Masood, who would have been 22 years old at the time of the match, seemingly failed to contain his emotions on Twitter.

Fans recently discovered his post, which apparently led to the Kuwait-born cricketer deleting it from his account. Real Madrid went on to win the La Liga title in the 2011-12 season- an occasion Masood would have undoubtedly celebrated.

The left-handed batsman recently made his T20 debut for Pakistan against England on September 20. He managed just seven runs from seven balls as his country managed a paltry total of 158, which England chased down with two balls and six wickets in hand.

He notably impressed in the third T20 international between the two teams on Friday (September 23). Chasing a target of 222, Masood remained not out after scoring 65 runs from 40 balls but could not help Pakistan beat the Three Lions.

England won by 61 runs and currently lead 2-1 in the seven-match T20 series.

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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo set to captain their nations at the FIFA World Cup

The showpiece event in Qatar could turn out to be Ronaldo and Messi's last World Cup appearance. The Argentina international, who is two years younger than his 37-year-old Portuguese counterpart, came closest out of the two to winning the competition.

La Albiceleste lost to Germany in the final of the 2014 edition via a Mario Gotze goal in extra time. This time, the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star will want to go one step further.

He recently scored a brace to help Argentina beat Honduras by a 3-0 margin in a friendly on Saturday (September 24). Ronaldo, meanwhile, is expected to start for Portugal when they face Czech Republic later on the same day.

The final 26-man squad for the World Cup will be named by November 13, with both Ronaldo and Messi expected to captain their respective countries in Qatar. It is safe to presume where Masood's allegiance will lie when the tournament kicks off.