Former Barcelona superstar Oscar Garcia believes that the Argentine legend Lionel Messi is the only player in football history who can match the skills of the Brazilian legacy of Ronaldo Nazario. The two-time world cup winner played for the Camp Nou club during his peak career and delivered some of the best performances of his footballing life.
And now, his former teammate Garcia recalls the skill set of the Brazilian superstar. However, Ronaldo played just a single season for the Catalonian side while scoring 47 goals in the 1996-97 football season. And during that time, he left Garcia stunned with his awesome skills and superior ball control.
Oscar Garcia believes Lionel Messi is the only player to surpass the records of Ronaldo Nazario
While recalling those days, Garcia said, “I was lucky to be very close to him for some of his goals, I saw how fast he was moving, it was even difficult to catch him to celebrate goals, he was still at the same speed.” He said, “From his very first training sessions we saw that he was a different player and that he was going to help us a lot.”
He said, “You just knew he was going to be a world star, and he was, but what caught my attention most was his humility, he treated everyone the same and was always smiling and joking, he gained confidence very quickly.” The star then added, “Until the arrival of Messi, I hadn’t seen a player who drove with the ball at that speed.”
Lionel Messi | Skills and Goals 2020
Garcia then compared Argentine captain Lionel Messi with the skills of Ronaldo. While expressing his opinion to Marca, he said, “I have only seen him and Messi do that.” He then further added, “I have been fortunate to have many great team-mates, but without a doubt, Ronaldo is in the top three.”
Abelardo Fernandez also recalled his old days with Ronaldo and said, “He was spectacular, the most powerful striker I have ever played with.” He then said, “I only worked with him for a single season at Barcelona, but I think that was his best season, he was only 20,” and added, “His goal against Compostela [in October 1996] perfectly illustrated what Ronaldo was at that time, it had everything: strength, speed, control of the ball and the goal was always in his eye-line.”