Barcelona’s legendary Brazilian footballer, Ronaldinho, has revealed that the only regret of his career is that he did not get enough time to play with Lionel Messi. He also noted that Messi does not need international success with Argentina to be considered the world’s best player, but played up the Albiceleste‘s chances of winning the next FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldinho enjoyed a glittering career, winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona, while also winning the FIFA World Cup with Brazil in 2002. Speaking to Gulf News, Ronaldinho was pretty happy overall with what he had achieved, but noted his regret about Messi.
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“I've achieved everything I wanted to and I'm grateful for that. Of course, I would have loved to have played more with Messi, he's a great player and I'm very glad to have helped him at the beginning of his career with the assistance of his first goal.”
Ronaldinho left Barcelona in 2008 for AC Milan, just as Lionel Messi was beginning to blossom for the Blaugrana. The skillful Brazilian was accepting of his regret, accepting that it was time to leave.
“Having seen him go on to become such a great player, it would have been great to have played more with him, but at that time my period at Barca was over and it was time for me to move to achieve new things and set new objectives, so the time had come for me to leave.”
Messi is the greatest even without an international medal
Lionel Messi has suffered heartbreak for Argentina, losing out in three consecutive finals, which led to much criticism of the Barcelona star. Ronaldinho won the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Brazil, but feels that the lack of an international medal does not take away from Messi.
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“Messi is a great player and the Argentina national team is a great team, I believe they have a real chance of winning the next World Cup. He demonstrates that he's the best every day. Week-in-week-out he keeps playing at such a level that demonstrates how good he really is, so there's no real need for him to show anymore at the World Cup. But as my friend I always wish him the best as I do all of my friends.”
With Cristiano Ronaldo having won Euro 2016 this summer, it remains to be seen if Leo Messi feels similarly to Ronaldinho.
