Rio Ferdinand is one of the most respected soccer pundits in the modern game. The former Manchester United and England international is known for revealing the ins and outs of the English club, as well as stories about his former teammates. One such story about Cristiano Ronaldo was revealed back in the summer of 2021.
Gary Lineker and Rio Ferdinand were on the BBC panel of the telecast of Euro 2020. Before the kickoff of Portugal vs France in the Group F, Ferdinand revealed a story that share some limelight on Ronaldo’s obsession with Lionel Messi.
For context, Lineker previously commented that Messi is better out of the two, and in 2020, the GOAT debate is not even close. Hearing this statement, Ronaldo texted Ferdinand about Lineker.
Ferdinand revealed how Ronaldo wasn’t happy with Lineker’s statements and used negativity as fuel: “It’s a great example and he uses negativity as fuel. You (Lineker) say Messi is the better out of the two. He will text me saying ‘why has he said that?’ It’s his competitive nature and you need that to be the best.”
Lewis Hamilton paid tribute to his F1 idol Ayrton Senna by wearing a special outfit ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian GP 🤝
The 7-time World Champion wore a green and black jacket as well as sporting a Brazil flag on his trousers 🇧🇷
🗣️ Hamilton on Senna: “I started watching F1… pic.twitter.com/zWqWt8QXpR
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) November 2, 2023
Ferdinand also commented about the obsession of becoming the best: “He (Ronaldo) was an obsessed human in terms of becoming the best. He’s a phenomenal player but someone who thinks about everything in the game to get every little bit out of himself.”
On the flip end, there are hardly any incidents that showed any obsession from Messi’s side to beat Ronaldo. The only major one was when Messi revealed how he was hurt when Ronaldo matched his Ballon d’Or tally back in 2017.
Rio Ferdinand chose Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo
In the case of Rio Ferdinand, the former England international has been careful of his words when discussing the debate between Ronaldo and Messi. Back in 2015, he famously said that Lionel Messi is an artist and a genius. While stating that if you were going to build a footballer, you’d build Ronaldo.
Over the years, there have rarely been any incidents when Ferdinand has put Messi over Ronaldo. However, in the context of the latest offering from EA Sports, Ferdinand took a different tone. In one of the segments of an EA FC 24 promotional event, the former Manchester United center-back was asked to choose between Messi and Ronaldo in the latest game, FC 24.
Messi & Ronaldo EA FC 24 CONFIRMED Ratings. pic.twitter.com/LQPrCOWmiY
— Jjuli (@jjuli_007) August 28, 2023
By comparing the stats of the two, Ferdinand said: “Oh wow Ronaldo’s points are way lesser than Messi. I think it is a bigger difference than what it should be. On these stats you have to go with Messi. If I am picking the team for the game, I am going for Messi.”
These comments from Rio Ferdinand proved that the former English international will only prefer the Argentine maestro over the Portuguese powerhouse in the digital realm of EA Sports. Cristiano Ronaldo should be pleased with the track record of Ferdinand.
The debate has been raging on for years, and for the majority of the neutral fans, it concluded when Lionel Messi won the 2022 FIFA World Cup and followed it with winning the 2023 Ballon d’Or award.