Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi have been caught up in the GOAT debate for a while as they continue to maintain a close battle of achievements and records.
Many have given their take on who is the greatest of all time and now, Ronaldo’s former Portugal teammate has also weighed in proving that he is Team Ronaldo after all, Goal reported.
The ex-Portugal international Pedro Mendes explained why, for him Ronaldo, 39, is a “more complete player” than Messi, 36.
Why does Pedro Mendes think Ronaldo is ‘more complete player’ than Messi? — Reuters/File
However, while acknowledging both players as “incredible”, Mendes said: “Cristiano Ronldo is the more complete player, he proved he could win La Liga, the Premier League and Serie A and was the top scorer in all of them — for me that is a huge thing to do.
“Between him and Messi, Ronldo wins that battle.”
Despite being a “fantastic player”, he said, Messi has played “outside Spain for two years in France towards the end of his career and only now in MLS.”
He added: “So we never knew how we would do in England in the Premier League where it is far more aggressive with more tackles, where Ronaldo did fantastically. In that debate there is a lot of controversy and opinion, but Ronaldo is a more complete player than Messi.”
Messi now has eight Ballon d’Or awards to his name while Ronaldo is showing no sign of slowing down and is expected to play on well into his 40s with five Golden Balls in his collection.