Legendary Brazilian footballer Cafu believes that his compatriot Neymar has already surpassed Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to technical ability.
Neymar had to settle for third place at the 2015 Fifa Ballon d'Or awards behind Messi and Ronaldo, but Cafu nonetheless said his fellow countryman is already at a higher level than the illustrious duo in one area of his game.
"Looking at his technical skills, I would say Neymar is stronger than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo right now," the former defender was quoted as saying by goal.com on Wednesday.
Neymar assisted Barcelona to a historic Treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles last season. Though he hasn't experienced the same success with Brazil's national team, with whom his World Cup, Olympics and two Copa America campaigns have ended without silverware.
But the former Brazil international is adamant that Neymar is the Selecao's undisputed star, although he has stressed the Barcelona man cannot do it all on his own.
"Neymar is the best Brazilian out there. He is on another level to the other Brazilians. But Brazil need a united team more than anything else. Only a united team can guarantee a strong Selecao," the 45-year-old, who won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002, said.
Earlier, Cafu’s former teammate Roberto Carlos also labelled Neymar as the best in the world, ahead of the duo.
