“They are the top 4” - Brazil legend Ronaldo names four greatest players in history of football

Former Brazilian striker and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo Nazario recently picked out the four players he thinks are the best of all time.

The Brazilian is himself often considered among the best footballers to have ever stepped on the pitch. He famously played for Barcelona for a season before joining Real Madrid further on in his career. Ronaldo never won the Champions League, but he took part in three World Cups with Brazil, winning twice in 1994 and 2002.

When asked his opinion about the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo narrowed down the list to four players. He said:

"For me, in the classification of the best in history, the four names would be Pele, Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They are the top four in the history of football."

While quite a few fans will not be happy with the non-inclusion of some of football's biggest names, the Brazilian picked out a very solid list of players.

Ronaldo Nazario comments on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's place in history

Ronaldo Nazario had earlier defended Cristiano Ronaldo and claimed the Portuguese must be 'bored' by claims about the Brazilian being the 'real Ronaldo'. He said:

"For CR7, it must be boring to hear that I am the real Ronaldo. People cannot be compared. Cristiano will remain in football history for the goals and for the continuity he has achieved. He will remain one of the best, like Messi.”

Both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have done more than enough in the last two decades to be included in the Brazilian's list. The likes of Johan Cryuff, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane and Rivaldo are among a plethora of other footballing legends who could have made the list.

However, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have achieved a level of consistency that has simply never been seen before. Both players have been scoring bucketloads of goals for more than a decade and have largely made a mockery of the Ballon d’Or award by winning it on numerous occasions.

Either Ronaldo or Messi have made it to the Ballon d'Or top three every year since 2007. The only four exceptions were Ronaldo missing in 2010 and 2021, Messi in 2018 and the 2020 version being canceled altogether due to the pandemic. The duo have a combined 12 Ballon d’Or awards among them.

Their nearest competition is in the form of Cruyff, Michelle Platini and Marco Van Basten. These legends won three awards each, which was considered a huge achievement until a decade ago.

The Brazilian legend, nicknamed 'O Fenômeno' ('The Phenomenon'), revolutionized the striker's position in football. Ronaldo was awarded the 1997 Ballon d'Or at the age of 21 and remains the youngest footballer ever to receive the the prestigious award to date. He won his second Ballon d'Or award in 2002 after helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup.