Cristiano Ronaldo’s controversial claim rubs Ronaldo Nazario up the wrong way

Cristiano Ronaldo has no doubt that he’s the greatest footballer of all time, but former Real Madrid and Brazil striker Ronaldo Nazario doesn’t agree with the Portugal captain

Ronaldo Nazario has responded to Cristiano Ronaldo boldly claiming himself to be the greatest football player of all time.

Even though the Al-Nassr forward recently celebrated his 40th birthday, he will hope to captain Portugal to World Cup glory next year. In a recent interview with El Chiringuito, his confidence shone through as he declared himself the sport’s best-ever player. “I’m talking about numbers. I think I’m the most complete player to have existed,” Ronaldo said.

“In my opinion, I think it’s me. I do everything well in football: with my head, free kicks, left foot. I’m fast, I’m strong. One thing is taste – if you like Messi, Pelé, Maradona, I understand that, and I respect that – but saying Ronaldo isn’t complete… I’m the most complete. I haven’t seen anybody better than me, and I say it from the heart.”

Ronaldo has won five Ballon d’Or awards to the eight of Lionel Messi, with the pair being the focus of the GOAT debate as the two best players of their era. Brazilian legend and former Real Madrid star Nazario disagrees with Ronaldo labelling himself the best.

“The truth is that I don’t like to go into that. I think some people have very high self-esteem, right? I prefer people talking about my performance, what I’ve done, who I’ve been, rather than me talking about myself,” he said in an interview with ESPN.

“But Cristiano Ronaldo has a fantastic trajectory. He’s achieved wonderful things, he’s scored goals in all sorts of ways, even changing positions, hasn’t he? From left forward to centre forward, which is not easy. For sure he is 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, for sure. I would say in the top 10, easily.”

Ronaldo might argue that he has a strong case to climb up Nazario’s rankings. The former Manchester United star holds the record for the most goals scored in the sport and believes he is a more versatile player than those above him. However, World Cup-winning striker Nazario highlighted the difficulty of the debate when naming some of his favourite players.

“Of the whole world? It’s complicated,” he explained. “Pelé is number one, for sure. Messi and Maradona are tied. Then Zico, Romario, Cristiano Ronaldo, Van Basten. There are many players like Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, there are many great people on that list.

“But I’m sure I’ll forget someone important, and I’ll regret it. Every time I’m asked about this ranking, I come up with a different list. I can’t stick to a single list.”

While he conceded that Neymar would also make his shortlist of 10 players, R9 was adamant that Ronaldo would not be in his top three. “Pelé is the first, Messi [third] with Maradona in second place. Definitively the top three players,” he said.

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