One of the former team-mates of Cristiano Ronaldo has come out to state that the Portuguese striker is not as good as Lionel Messi. Kieran Richardson played 81 games for Manchester United after coming out of the ranks through their academy.
Richardson played 40 games alongside Ronaldo before leaving the Red Devils in 2009 having enjoyed immense success under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Richardson, speaking on the Steven Sulley Podcast, insisted that he would pick Messi if pushed to choose between the two.
“They’re both the GOATs”, Richardson said, “But if I had to pick one, then I have to pick Messi, even though I know Ronaldo, I’ve played with Ronaldo, I love Ronaldo.”
Richardson continued by elaborating on his justification for the choice, supporting the belief of some fans that Messi’s World Cup victory gives him an advantage over Ronaldo
“When they pass away, they’ll still be talked about forever, but just because Messi got that World Cup,” he said.
“It’s a massive thing having that World Cup, because even before Messi had the World Cup, everyone was saying, “yeah, but he hasn’t won it yet. He can’t be the best of all time because [Diego] Maradona won it, Pele won it.”
“Now there is no question, he’s won the pinnacle any footballer would want to win. Even though they get their own accolades, World Player of the Year so many times, but as a footballer, when you’re thinking as a kid, you want to win a World Cup. That’s all you want to win.”
