Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, has praised FIFA Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, and says the Real Madrid forward is more obsessed than the Argentine.
The Spain international unveiled he wasn’t surprised by Ronaldo’s emotional break-out when he was announced as the winner of the prestigious award, and the tears rather showed his real being.
“It took everyone by surprise, especially those who don’t know him, but not me,” the 27-year-old said.
“More than that in fact, not only did it not surprise me, I think it’s great. He’s got a reputation for being a tough-guy, being above it all, so it was good that he had that reaction.
“He really wanted it, he’d suffered for it and he got it. I like that.”
Pique also confirmed, despite Ronaldo playing for Barca’s opponents, he will always have something good to say about the Portuguese, who helped him a lot when both were at Manchester United.
“I’ve haven’t talked to him recently,” Pique continued.
“I’ve changed my number a few times, just as he will have I guess, but if I’ve always got something good to say about him it’s because I like him.
“People base their opinion on gestures or comments without really knowing anything.
“I should say that from what I've seen recently he's changed a bit, but personally I like the guy – he helped me a lot when I arrived at United.”
Messi’s teammate described Ronaldo as a perfect player, whose strong mind kept pushing him to win this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or, after Messi had won the award four times in a row.
“Cristiano is a perfect machine, an innate worker who always wants to get better,” Pique added.
“He can shoot with his right, his left, free-kicks, penalties, headers. He’s a perfect player.
“He’s the first to be extremely demanding of himself. At United he was already like that.
“He was a player who wanted to conquer the world and the most surprising thing, the thing I rate most highly about him, is that at 28 and after Leo had won four Ballones d’Or and he’d been pushed out of top spot for a while he was able to keep going.”
Finally, Pique confirmed he is pleased that Ronaldo won the award and thinks the Portuguese is more obsessed than Messi, but the Argentine is the more naturally gifted player.
“He’s strong minded. I’m pleased he won the Ballon d’Or. He deserves it, but Leo’s different, he’s innately talented.
“Maybe he’s not so obsessed or as hard a worker as Cristiano, but when he gets the ball it’s like we’ve all been stopped, in slow motion, honestly.”
Do you agree that Ronaldo is the more obsessed player, whilst Messi has more natural talent? Have your say in the comment section below.
