The Barcelona icon and Juventus superstar have been the dominant footballers in the game for the past decade
Rio Ferdinand believes the endless debate over who should be hailed as the greatest between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo needs to end, insisting the duo should simply be given their own place in the pantheon of the game's all-time greats.
Ferdinand, who played alongside a young Ronaldo as he cut his football teeth under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, has not been surprised by the incredible achievements of the Juventus superstar, who is the leading scorer in the history of the Champions League.
He is also full of admiration for Barcelona maestro Messi and suggests the pair have long since secured their place in the list of the game's enduring icons.
"We are blessed that we are in the presence of these two amazing footballers and it doesn't matter if you think one is better than the other at this stage," Ferdinand told Goal, at an event to promote his new movie 90 Minutes.
"They are both just ridiculous talents and what puts them so far ahead of everyone else is their mental strength. That area of their game never ceases to amaze me and separates them from everyone else. It is something I marvel at, definitely.
"To consistently want to do what they have done at that level for so long is not something many people have and, when you throw in their talent, it's an incredible combination.
"The joy for us as viewers is watching this incredible battle between two great players who are clearly being driven on by the fact they are playing in the same era of the game.
"If Ronaldo scores a hat-trick one night in the Champions League, you just know Messi will follow up the next night with a hat-trick of his own or some kind of crazy goal that only he can score. It's great TV and we should relish it. I think these two have definitely been driven on by each other and we have seen examples of how this works in other sports as well.
"Rodger Federer and Rafael Nadal are examples of two incredible sporting talents that have had to go to the next level and the next level because they are pushing each other on. It was the same when (John) McEnroe and (Bjorn) Borg were at the top of tennis. They have always had someone to compete with. Muhammad Ali with Joe Frazer and George Foreman pushing him is another example.
"What Ronaldo and Messi are doing is just amazing, but I'm not surprised to see Cristiano at this level. From the moment we saw him at United, all of us in the dressing room said he was going to be the best player in the world and that is what he became.
"What's amazing with these two is they have not just been the best player in the world for one or two years, which was the norm up to this point. They have been the best players in the world for 10 and 12 years, which is ridiculous."
90 Minutes is must-see film for all football fans, with the DVD and digital download available to download now.
Ghamdan9966
109
Nothing to say
sicacklu
94
Rio Ferdinand is really is really a good analyst. Can't wait to download your movie
danny7_ida
83
But if you look at the gap you know who is the best
VanishPrasad
77
The Ronaldo–Messi rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and supposedly between the athletes themselves. Having won a combined ten Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Orawards (5 each), both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also regarded by many in the sport, including players, writers and fans, as the greatest of all time. They're two of the most decorated football players ever having won a combined 61 trophies (Ronaldo 28, Messi 33) during their careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a single season. They're amongst the 28 players in the history of the sport to score over 500 career goals, currently ranked at 6th (Ronaldo) and 7th (Messi) respectively, with both having scored over 680 goals each in their careers for club and country. Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to establish who they believe is the best player in modern football. It has been compared to past global sports rivalriessuch as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Federer–Nadal rivalry, Björn Borg–John McEnroe rivalry in tennis and the Ayrton Senna–Alain Prost rivalry in Formula One motor racing. Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two while part of the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players: Ronaldo is sometimes described as someone of temperamental character while Messi is portrayed with reserved character. It could be the case that this is why Messi is considered trustworthier and more likable by the public, even though Ronaldo improved his reputation since 2013 and is a true leader and an inspiration At club level, Messi and Ronaldo represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two players faced each other at least twice every season in the world's most popular regular-season club game, El Clásico(among the most viewed annual sporting events), until Ronaldo's transfer to Italian club Juventus F.C. in 2018. Off the field, they are the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, Messi of Adidas and Ronaldo of Nike, which are also the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs. The two highest paid players in football, Messi and Ronaldo are among the world's best paid sports' stars in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In 2018, Messi edged Ronaldo on Forbes list of the best-paid athletes, earning $111 million, with Ronaldo next at $108 million. They have the two biggest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined 211 million Facebook fans in 2019, Ronaldo having 122 million and Messi 89 million. As well as a combined 270 million followers on Instagram as of 2019, Ronaldo is the most followed individual on the entire service, with over 160 million followers whilst Messi has 112 million followers. I hope one day everyone realizes how important each of them changed the history of football forever.
Tondabowy
60
This two players are some else 🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐
Tonymarkneymartse
56
The two legends just enjoy them while they are still producing magic just like for the 2 legends
Mosanya
43
Both are incredible, they are the best players in the world, but some fans like to compare them in which cases leads to fight, this two have been entertaining us for a decade and we should be lucky we are living in their era unlike Pele and Maradona. This two are incredible and unstoppable, let's not compare and keep enjoying their talents for as long as they can, this two are the greatest player football world has ever seen, they are irreplaceable, remember one day this two will retire.