Rio Ferdinand on who he picks among Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo ‘I would take…’

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. (FILE photo)

The comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is a never-ending debate. Both the stars for their clubs and countries have achieved remarkable things, and along the way have set some high standards. Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said he will pick Ronaldo over Messi for one game.

“It depends on the team, but for one game, I would take Cristiano,” Ferdinand said in an interview with Saudi outlet Thamanya.

Earlier in 2021, Ferdinand spoke on TNT Sports about both players said: “We should just enjoy them.” However, he made a clear distinction between the two: “I think Messi is the one who likes to get involved in the game and can play the final pass, but also his numbers in terms of goals are ridiculous. And Cristiano is just obsessed with scoring goals and being the person who decides the match.”

Messi said that while he had a tremendous amount of respect for eternal rival Ronaldo, the two superstars were not exactly friends. Messi said that this was not due to some kind of personal animosity but was down to the simple fact that the two superstars don’t spend time together with their paths rarely crossing.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and for the career he’s had and continues to have, because he’s still competing at the highest level,” Messi told DSports.

“The competition with him was on the pitch. Each of us wanted to do the best for our team. Obviously, as always, everything stayed on the field. Off the pitch, we are two normal people. We’re not friends obviously because we don’t spend time together, but we’ve always treated each other with a lot of respect,” he added.

A few weeks ago, Ronaldo had also said that he had nothing but respect for Messi. “I have affection for Messi, although we have been rivals for many years. As I have said in several interviews, we were on stage for 15 years. I translated for him at the galas. I have affection for him because he always respected me a lot,” Ronaldo had said ahead of Portugal’s game against Spain in the Nations League final.