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Former Portugal international Luis Nani believes that while comparing Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, one needs to evaluate their younger days as well. Highlighting that both players were great, Nani insisted that CR7's younger days were often forgotten. He also opined that Ronaldo was the better of the duo.
In a discussion, Nani weighed in on the greatest of all-time (GOAT) debate involving La Pulga and Cristiano Ronaldo. He said (via ObiOnePodcast on YouTube):
"I will tell you something, there is a big big difference. When people talk about Ronaldo and Messi, They're looking in the last five years. When you want to talk about Messi and Ronaldo, you need to talk about when they were young. The skills, the way they were doing things with the ball and the speed and scoring goals with the left, with the right, with the head. So, they way they were passing, nobody was stopping them."
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He continued:
"If you start thinking about Ronaldo now, yeah nobody likes to see his game because they say ah he just touch and then he score goals. But it's not true, he's 40 now, you need to see when he was young. I saw things, in training, left, right, dribbling. It's incredible, every single touch on the ball was perfect, no mistakes, perfect, for me, he's the best and I respect Messi because Messi is a talent out of this world as well. They are both great. We are lucky to be in the same generation and compete with them."
La Pulga and CR7 have shared the longest and most competitive rivalry in football's history. Tracked back to their Barcelona and Real Madrid days, the duo were key contenders for several trophies in club, individual, and international levels.
"I have a lot of respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo" - Lionel Messi
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi has revealed that he has 'a lot of respect and admiration' for CR7. He also lauded the Portuguese for competing at top level despite his age (40).
In an interview with DSPORTS on X, Messi said (via GOAL):
"I have a lot of respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and for the career he’s had and continues to have, because he’s still competing at the highest level."
He added:
"The competition with him was on the pitch. Each of us wanted to do the best for our team. Obviously, as always, everything stayed on the field. Off the pitch, we are two normal people. We’re not friends obviously because we don’t spend time together, but we’ve always treated each other with a lot of respect."
