Brazilian Ronaldo hails Messi over namesake

Brazil legend Ronaldo said Barcelona star Lionel Messi is slightly better than Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

The La Liga stars are seen by many as the best two players in the world at present, and Ronaldo has nothing but praise for the Argentine, while also voicing his admiration for Portugal’s shining light.

“Messi is a little above Cristiano Ronaldo in my opinion,” the former Brazil star told CNN.

“I give preference to Messi, because he’s a player who fascinates us more, who shows more creativity – even though he’s from Argentina, which has a big rivalry with Brazil.

“I admire both players, though.”

The 35-year-old then went on to discuss the future of young compatriot Neymar, and stressed he needs to move to Europe in order to make the next step forward.

“I think Neymar still has a phase to compete, to play in Europe and triumph playing in Europe,” he said.

Ronaldo is eagerly anticipating the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and even though the national team have been unable to impress in recent years, the former attacker is hopeful they can challenge for the trophy in two years time.

“I think in the last victories we had in the World Cup (1994 and 2002), the team was traditionally created in the last year. So I think we still have time,” he said.

“We have Neymar, who is a huge talent, Pato, Thiago Silva, who is another excellent defender. Ganso, Oscar. We have a very young team, but it’s playing at a high level and gives us big hope for a victory.”

Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals at both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.