Romario omits Messi and Cristiano from best players of all time

World Cup winner Romario has named himself the second best player of all time, leaving Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo out of his top-five list.

Romario described Pele as the greatest, with himself second, while Argentine striker Diego Maradona was placed third.

Fellow former Brazil striker Ronaldo claimed fourth and Real Madrid’s new coach Zinedine Zidane took fifth.

“I think I deserve to be on the list for my height, for the things that I did, for not being an athlete and to get where I got,” Romario, who stands a little over 5ft 5ins, told Esporte Ponto Final.

As well as Messi and Ronaldo, Romario chose to leave out Johan Cruyff, who coached him at Barcelona, explaining players must have won at least one World Cup to be considered among the best.

Romario, who scored 760 goals in 970 career games, added that he believes Neymar will become the best player in the world if he continues on his current trajectory.