The semi-finalists for Goal's reader-voted competition have been decided, with Cristiano Ronaldo winning his last-eight tie in the most nail-biting way possible.
Goal's inaugural Legends World Cup has seen four star contenders eliminated at the quarter-final stage, as 118,977 votes were cast over the 24-hour period.
The biggest shock was perhaps Real Madrid and Hungary legend Ferenc Puskas completely surpassing Diego Maradona at the races. His compatriots came together - over 12,000 of them - to give him an 8,464-vote cushion over the World Cup 1986 winner.
Puskas, who only made it out of the last 16 by the absurdly slender margin of six votes against Marco van Basten, has been rewarded with a clash against another Madrid legend: Zinedine Zidane.
The two-time World Cup finalist, who won the Fifa tournament on home soil in 1998, battled hard against Pele, one of the favourites heading into the Legends World Cup. Ultimately, he defeated the Brazilian by the slender margin of 9,900 to 8,926 votes.
On the other side of the draw, the late Johan Cruyff was unable to defeat Lionel Messi, whose legacy the Flying Dutchman is partially responsible for due to his La Masia brainchild in the late 1970s.
World Cup finalist and four-time Champions League winner Messi conquered the legendary Cruyff by 10,386 votes to seal a semi-finalist match-up against his eternal Clasico nemesis: Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the closest clash of the quarter-finals, Ronaldo and the Italian defensive icon jostled for the lead over much of the voting timeframe before Real Madrid's current No.7 claimed a victory by just FIVE votes! The final tallies were 19,773-19,768.
Semi-final ties on Monday: Messi vs Maldini/Ronaldo (kick-off at 9am UK time), Zidane vsPuskas (12pm). Check out the full draw graphic below and make sure you log on to Goal tomorrow to cast your votes!
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