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Former Italy striker Christian Vieri spoke to Sportweek (via La Lazio Simao Noi) and named his dream team, which included Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
His ideal starting XI consists mostly of players that he played alongside or faced as opponents. Ronaldo and Messi are the two players named in his dream team that are still active alongside Andres Iniesta and Gianluigi Buffon.
As per La Lazio Simao Noi, Vieri's Dream Team is as follows:
Gianluigi Buffon; Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta; Cafu, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Roberto Carlos; Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi.
Vieri played for several big clubs throughout his career including - Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, and AC Milan. His career was marred by injuries but he enjoyed a pretty successful spell with Inter Milan between 1999 and 2005.
He won the Pichichi Award in the 1997-98 campaign, scoring 24 goals in La Liga with Atletico Madrid. He was also the Serie A top scorer in the 2002-03 campaign with Inter Milan, finding the back of the net 24 times in just 23 appearances.
Unfortunately, an injury kept him out of the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, as Italy went on to lift the prestigious trophy.
When asked to elaborate on his choice of defenders in the dream team, he said:
"In my day he [Nesta] and the other two AC Milan players [Maldini] & [Cafu] were the best of the best in defense. They prepared me properly, otherwise it was tough"
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi often make it to dream teams of their colleagues
Both legendary forwards have dominated world football for roughly the last decade and a half. They won the Ballon d'Or 12 times in the last 13 seasons between them. It is not uncommon for the duo to be included in someone's ideal XI or dream team, either together or with one of the other.
The two players were left out of the top 100 most valuable players in the world by CIES (via Manchester Evening News). However, they enjoyed a decent outing in the 2021-22 campaign.
Ronaldo was the top scorer for Manchester United, with 24 goals in 39 matches across all competitions. Meanwhile, Messi picked up 14 assists for Paris Saint-Germain in 26 matches, helping his side win Ligue 1.
The two icons had solid displays for their national teams in the ongoing international break as well.
Ronaldo scored a brace for Portugal against Switzerland in a UEFA Nations League fixture. Meanwhile, Messi bagged all five goals in Argentina's 5-0 win against Estonia in an international friendly. It seems that both of them are determined to do well in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
