Portugal defender Jose Fonte thinks international team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo will always be the best player in the world.
The Real Madrid star has enjoyed blistering form in the World Cup in Russia, scoring four goals in his opening two matches to help propel Portugal towards the knockout stages – including a hat-trick against Iberian rivals Spain.
Ronaldo then scored the only goal of the game in Portugal’s 1-0 victory over Morocco and is tipped as the favourite to win the Golden Boot.
While a debate among football fans continues to rumble on as to who is the best between Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Fonte is in no doubt.
“I think that for us Portuguese he is the best, he always will be,” Fonte said.
“This is always a difficult debate. For us he is the best and this is what matters. Cristiano is ours but talking about the best of all time is relative and very difficult to say.
“The fact that he is breaking all records, keeps scoring and surprises all of you, but not us because we see him every day. For sure he will keep on doing this. At the end we will see.”
Ronaldo has been the stand-out performer for Portugal in their World Cup campaign so far, leading to some suggestions that they are overly reliant on their all-time record scorer. But Fonte believes it is understandable.
“It’s obvious Ronaldo has a huge influence in our team. It would be the same in any other team in the world,” he added.
“But he’s Portuguese and we’re lucky to have him. We have to play in a way that suits the players we have and we have Cristiano Ronaldo.”
