The tedious Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate is one that’s unlikely to be settled anytime soon.
Ronaldo has 656 career goals for club and country to Messi’s 621, and both men have won five Ballons d’Or each.
But while many believe the Argentine is the greatest footballer of all-time, Ronaldo knows he has something Messi will never have.
Writing in his upcoming book ‘How to Be a Footballer’, former Premier League and England striker Peter Crouch has revealed that Ronaldo’s Manchester United team-mates used to tease him about his rivalry with Messi.
“Rio Ferdinand would tell us stories about how Cristiano Ronaldo would stand in front of the mirror naked, running his hand through his hair, and say, ‘Wow. I’m so beautiful!” writes Crouch.
“The other United players would try to wind him up [by saying] ‘Whatever, Leo Messi is a better player than you’.”
But the man who joined Juventus from Real Madrid in a stunning €100m deal earlier this summer had a perfect response to those jibes.
“He would shrug his shoulders and smile again. ‘Ah yes. But Messi does not look like this…’”
He may be vain and slightly arrogant, but you can’t deny he has a point there.