Brazilian football great Kaka said that he leans towards Lionel Messi in the debate of who among the Argentine and his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world.

“I played with Cristiano and he’s really amazing, but I’ll go with Messi,” Kaka said when asked who he would pick out of Messi or Ronaldo during an Instagram Live Q&A for FIFA’s channel.

“He’s a genius, a pure talent. The way he plays is incredible.”

The debate has been one of the defining characteristics of world football for over a decade. Between 2008 and 2018, Ronaldo and Messi won the Ballon d’Or award. Kaka was the last player to win the award before the pair started domination. He played with Ronaldo for five years at Real Madrid.

He said the two players are among the greatest of all time in the history of football. “Cristiano is a machine. It’s not just the way he’s strong, powerful and fast; he’s strong mentally,” said Kaka.

“He always wants to win and play. To be the best. For me, that’s the most incredible thing he has.

“In the history of sport, they [Messi and Cristiano] are definitely in the top five. We are very lucky to have been able to see both of them.”

Meanwhile, Messi announced that Barca’s players had agreed to a 70 per cent pay cut and to make contributions to ensure the club’s non-playing staff could be paid in full during the state of alarm in Spain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Footballers across Europe’s top leagues have come under fire as some clubs have made cuts to their non-playing staff or their salaries while many wealthy players have yet to see their incomings affected.

“It hurts because we were the first to want to reach an agreement,” Suarez told Uruguayan radio station Sport890.

Agencies