One of Ronaldo Nazario's former teammates has insisted that Lionel Messi is better player than the Brazilian and the late Diego Maradona.
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Legendary Italian striker Christian Vieri plied his trade all over Europe. For all his exploits on the continent, it was at Inter Milan where he flourished the most.
It was while playing for the Nerazzurri that Vieri won the Capocannoniere – Serie A's Golden Boot – and briefly played alongside two-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo Nazario.
Arguably at the peak of their powers when at the San Siro, the pair shared the pitch only 11 times due to the two-time FIFA World Cup winner's persistent injuries.
Despite having shared a dressing room with the legendary Brazilian, however, Vieri has now stated that he is not as good a footballer as Messi.
"I put Messi in front of Maradona and Ronaldo, the Ronaldo of Inter," the Bologna native told Corriere della Sera in an interview.
"You can disagree if you want."
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This is not the first time the former Italy international has heaped high praise on the Argentine superstar, having previously lauded the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner as a "magician" with the football.
"Messi is a magician, he's the Harry Potter of soccer and when he stops playing, I'm throwing my TVs away," Vieri told CBS Sport in 2020.
"I'm not going to work no more on TV, I'm going to watch Netflix, that's it, because when he stops there's nothing else to watch."
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Three games into the new Ligue 1 season and Messi already has half the goals he scored in the entirety of the 2021/22 league campaign (six strikes) as he looks to get back to his world-class best.
