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Journalism of Courage
Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario, the man who helped the Selecao win their last World Cup in 2002, recently said that his Portuguese namesake Cristiano Ronaldo was in the list of the top 10 players of all time but he wasn’t the undisputed best footballer that he claims to be. The Brazil icon even said that Pele, Messi and Maradona was in his opinion the top 3 best players of all time. He, however, said that he respected Cristiano’s opinion and said he has achieved marvelous things.
“I really don’t like to go into that. I think people have very high self esteem, right? I prefer people to talk about my performance. what I have done, what I have been, rather than me talking about myself. But Cristiano has a fantastic story, right? He’s achieved marvelous things, he’s scored goals in all sorts of ways, including a change in position, right? From a left-sided forward to a central striker, which isn’t easy. Surely he’s among the best in the history of football. Now I don’t agree that he’s the best. But I respect his opinion. He’s certainly among the best in history, I’d say top ten easily,” Ronaldo said in an interview with ESPN.
“Of the whole world? It’s complicated. Pele’s number 1 for sure. Messi, Maradona tied together. Zico, Romario, Cristiano Ronaldo, van Basten, there area lot of players like Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, there are a lot of great people on that list. But I am sure I’ll forget someone important and regret it. Every time I am asked about the ranking, I come up with a different list. I can’t remember a single list,” he added.
Cristiano, who has 143 goals in 225 appearances for Portugal, will be in action later this week when he leads his national team against Ireland and Armenia in two World Cup 2026 qualifying matches.
