Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr and Lionel Messi of Inter Miami have been embroiled in the GOAT controversy for some time now. They maintain a close competition of accomplishments and records.
Many have shared their opinions about the greatest player of all time, and now, according to Goal, Ronaldo’s old Portugal colleague has added his voice to the chorus, demonstrating that he is, after all, Team Ronaldo.
Pedro Mendes, a former Portugal international, outlined his reasoning for believing that Ronaldo, 39, is a “more complete player” than Messi, 36.
Mendes added, “Cristiano Ronaldo 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,” despite calling both players “incredible.”
“Between him and Messi, Ronaldo wins that battle.”
He claimed that Messi was a “fantastic player,” but he had only played Major League Soccer for the past two years and spent the last two years of his career in France.
“There is a lot more aggression and tackles in the Premier League in England, where Ronaldo performed exceptionally well,” he continued. “So we never knew how we would do there.”
There is a lot of disagreement and controversy on that topic, but Ronaldo is a more well-rounded player than Messi.”
Messi currently holds eight Ballon d’Or honors, and Ronaldo, who has five Golden Balls under his belt and is predicted to play well into his 40s, is showing no signs of slowing down.
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