“I didn’t see Pele play but Messi and Ronaldo were a great match to watch” - Ex-Brazil star who played for Barcelona hails ‘genius’ Lionel Messi

Former Barcelona and Brazil star Edmilson has paid tribute to Lionel Messi and his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The former defender reckons that it's great watching the two superstars in action while hailing the Argentine maestro as a genius.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continue to earn respect from former footballers and rightly so given all they've given to the game in their illustrious careers.

With 13 Ballon d'Or awards, nine Champions League titles and 78 trophies between them, the duo are the most successful footballers in history, alongside Brazilian great Pele whose record of three World Cup triumphs is unlikely to be trumped anytime soon.

For Edmilson, who wasn't privileged to watch Pele, nothing compares to watching Messi and Ronaldo running riot on the pitch. The former Barcelona defender waxed lyrical while talking about the duo during a charity event "Lance Gala" to raise funds for the Edmilson Foundation.

"Messi is a genius! I didn't see Pele play, but he and Cristiano [Ronaldo] were a great match to watch," he said in quotes conveyed by ESPN before adding: "Now there's a new generation with Mbappe, Haaland and Vinicius Jr."

Edmilson witnessed a young Lionel Messi spring up to the top of the game back at Barcelona in the mid and late 2000s. The Brazilian believes Messi is still able to perform at the highest level because of the way he takes care of himself.

"He is reaping what he sowed back there: dedication to recover well, eat well, rest... This is part of a process of forming a career, which is very fast," said the Brazilian, "Guys who understand that they need to behave like that off the field will go a long way."

How have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo fared during the international break?

The international break kicked off last week, with club football taking a pause as the qualifiers for the next World Cup and the European Championships took center stage.

Ronaldo was on fire for Portugal when they took on Iceland in the Euro qualifiers at the Rheinpark Stadion on Thursday (November 16). The attacker opened the scoring in the second half before Joao Cancelo added a second to secure a 2-0 win for Roberto Martinez's men.

Messi, meanwhile, couldn't help Argentina avoid a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Uruguay in the World Cup qualifiers on Friday (November 17). The Argentine forward will get another opportunity to impress when the La Albiceleste lock horns with Brazil at the Maracana Stadium tomorrow (November 22).