Ronaldinho responded to Cristiano's criticism and opined on Messi's The Best

A few weeks ago Lionel Messi received for the third time in his professional career the The Best award that FIFA gives every year to the most outstanding player of the last season. This time it was a surprise, as everyone expected Erling Haaland to take the trophy after shining in 2023 with Manchester City. However, Leo received the same amount of points as the Norwegian striker and finally won for being chosen by more team captains.

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This award caused controversy when a few days later Cristiano Ronaldo (who had been left out of the finalists despite being the top scorer of the year) received the Globe Soccer Award for best goal scorer and fan favorite player, and in an interview with Record said: "I'm used to it and I know how these organizations work. To be honest, I didn't watch The Best awards ceremony. I think that, in a way, these awards are losing credibility."

While CR7 later clarified that this did not mean that Messi, Haaland or Mbappé did not deserve to win, he was clearly unhappy with the outcome of the voting. And many others agreed with his opinion. In fact, other stars such as Lothar Matthaus felt that the Argentine forward should not have been voted the world's best player again.

But Ronaldinho has a different idea. He was asked about this issue and explained: "Well, I'm always out of the controversy, ha. But Messi is one of the best of all time, so how can we discuss whether he is the best one year, two years? Soccer is like that, everyone thinks in a different way. For me he is still the best in the world, for me it's very simple".

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They are good friends

Ronaldinho has a very special relationship with Lionel Messi. He was the star of Barcelona when Leo started his professional career there in 2004 and guided him during those early years. When the Brazilian forward left for AC Milan in 2008, Messi 'inherited' his number 10 shirt and made history with it, becoming the most important player in Barcelona's history.