The Brazilian Ronaldo has named who he thinks the eight greatest players of all-time are.
Ronaldo Nazario, 47, enjoyed a glittering career from 1993 to 2011, playing for the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan, while he also scored 62 times in 98 games for Brazil.
The former striker is one of the most iconic footballers of his generation and has since tried his hand at football ownership with Real Valladolid in Spain and his boyhood Brazilian side Cruzeiro.
And, speaking back in 2022 to The Guardian, Ronaldo – who netted 352 times in 518 games in his career and also won two Ballon d’Or awards – named the eight greatest players of all-time. However, he left one huge name off his list.
‘I think there is a very, very special group,’ he said. ‘Where you have Diego, Messi, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Pele, Van Basten, Ronaldinho.
The Brazilian Ronaldo named the eight greatest players of all-time in an interview back in 2022
However, the former Brazil striker snubbed his namesake and Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo Nazario’s eight greatest players of all-time
Diego Maradona
Pele
Johan Cruyff
Franz Beckenbauer
Marco van Basten
Lionel Messi
Ronaldinho
Himself (Ronaldo Nazario)
‘I would include myself. Let the fans say, let them debate it in the bars.
‘But you can’t rank them, can’t compare generations.’
The Brazilian snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo in favour of his long-time rival Lionel Messi, despite the Portuguese icon having scored 891 career goals and continuing to excel at the age of 38.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s list included several players he wouldn’t have played with.
Diego Maradona, Pele, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer are all from a previous era, although they are widely acclaimed as legends of the game.
Similarly, despite crossing over in his playing career with Marco van Basten and Lionel Messi, he was never a team-mate of either of the icons.
On the other hand, Ronaldo played with Ronaldinho at both AC Milan and for the Brazil national team.
The two stars were crucial in helping to drive the Selecao on throughout the early 2000s.
This included winning the World Cup together in 2002.
To make matters even worse for Cristiano Ronaldo, he was snubbed in favour of Lionel Messi
The late greats Franz Beckenbauer and Pele both made it onto Ronaldo’s heralded list
Ronaldo (No 9) also included his Brazilian team-mate and fellow icon Ronaldinho (No 11)
Given their partnership, it is perhaps no surprise that Ronaldo also named himself among the group of eight.
However, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, the likes of Michel Platini, Alfredo Di Stefano, Zinedine Zidane, George Best and Ferenc Puskas will all feel hard done by not to be mentioned.
