Not many people predict that Lionel Messi will win the Ballon d’Or title and become the best player in the world. Ronaldinho is one figure who predicted from the beginning.
Ronaldinho had predicted Messi would become the best player in the world when La Pulga was still playing for Barcelona B in 2003. At that time Ronaldinho was immediately impressed with Messi when the Argentine was training with the first team.
When Messi began to gain the confidence to play in the Barcelona senior team and made his debut against Espanyol in La Liga on October 16, 2004, Ronaldinho was transformed into the world’s best player. In that year Ronaldinho won the title of world player of his first FIFA version.
Ronaldinho’s career continued to skyrocket in 2005 by winning the title of FIFA’s best player and Ballon d’Or. At the same time, Messi is slowly but surely starting to become a mainstay in Barcelona’s Starting XI.
When Ronaldinho was sold by Barcelona to AC Milan in 2008, Messi was the first player to feel sad. Messi was sad because he lost his mentor, a figure who gave him room to be creative. Ronaldinho was not arrogant and held back Messi’s creativity despite being the best in the world at the time.
“Ronaldinho really helped me. He was my mentor and made me feel comfortable in the team. I always see him on the field,” Messi said.
Behind the sadness, Messi also realized that Ronaldinho’s departure was an opportunity to develop his career. That’s right It only took one since Ronaldinho moved for Messi to be the best in the world.
After becoming the world’s best player in 2009, Messi built rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo. Both players are still considered the two best players in the world for more than a decade.
Ronaldinho does not need proof that he predicted Messi would be the best player in the world from the start. Because the former Brazilian national team star told the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant since Messi was 17 years old.
“When Barcelona toured Los Angeles, Ronaldinho told me: ‘Kobe I will introduce you to the person who will be the best player of all time,'” Kobe was quoted as saying by Bleacher Report.
“I said, ‘That person is you? You are the best’. He said, ‘No, no. This child will be the best’. And that person is Lionel Messi, who is still 17 years old,” Kobe said.
Despite predicting Messi will be the best player in the world, Ronaldinho did not dare to say La Pulga as the best in history. Ronaldinho regards Messi as one of the four best footballers in history.
“I don’t like comparisons because it’s hard to identify the best players in history, there are Diego Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo Nazario. I can’t say Messi is the best of all time, but he’s the best in his time,” said Ronaldinho.
