Brazilian football legend Pele labelled Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s best footballer at present, claiming the Juventus forward was better than his counterpart Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo and Messi have dominated world football over the past decade, sharing 11 Ballon d’Or awards between themselves but Pele believes Ronaldo’s consistency gives him an edge over the Barcelona captain.
“Today the best player in the world is Cristiano Ronaldo,” Pele said in an interview on the YouTube channel Pilhado.
“I think he’s the best because he’s more consistent, but you can’t forget about [Lionel] Messi, of course, but he’s not a striker,” he added.
Despite the praise for the duo, Pele who won three Fifa World Cup and scored over 1,000 goals in his career, claimed he was better than duo and considered himself as the best footballer of all-time.
The 79-year-old picked Zico, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo Nazario, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff in his list of all-time greats but said none of them could match him.
“It’s not my fault, but I think Pelé was better than them all,” he said.
“There is only one king. If I have to be honest, well, I’m telling you the truth: my father and mother closed the factory. There will only ever be one Pele.”
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