Real Madrid ace, Cristiano Ronaldo, has captained Portugal to their sole major triumph on the international stage, he has scored 61 goals for the national team, and has bagged a fairly ridiculous 488 goals for his club sides. He has won every individual honour available in football and has been named the World Player of the Year 3 times.
For many, he's the Best player in the world right now, and within shouting distance of the much-acclaimed title of Greatest Of All Time
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Yet, according to charismatic Portuguese legend Luis Figo, he may not even be Portugal's greatest ever. That honour he feels goes to the late Mozambique-born magician Eusebio who dominated the European footballing landscape in the '60s with his sublime skills and ruthless goal-scoring ability.
Eusebio too won many individual honours including the Ballon d'Or in 1965 and the FIFA World Cup Golden Boot in a thrilling 1966 WC campaign where he almost single-handedly took a debutant Portuguese side to third place – their best performance till date at the biggest stage of them all.
While his 41 national goals and 423 club goals lay in the shade of Ronaldo's statistics (especially considering he is still adding to them game-after-game), Figo believes there's more to the title of “greatest ever” than mere statistics.
"I admire Cristiano and I enjoy seeing his achievements," he told AS. "He just gets better every year. He's making football history. But even though I never saw Eusebio play, I would put him at number one for everything he stands for, for the love he showed me, his friendship and his advice.”
He added , "Everyone will say that I say that for this reason or that reason but ultimately it's just about respect. Everyone makes history in their own time."
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Once again it appears, Ronaldo has a few more people to win over – but as he has shown over the course of a decade at the top of the game, he is most certainly capable of doing that. Luis Figo may just change his tune before CR7's career ends.
