Ronaldo: 'Messi or Cristiano? I'd shut my eyes and pick either of the two'

By Sebastian Fest and Ignacio Naya - DPA

His wit and his capacity to be ironic also persist, and, at 37, the former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Milan forward can explain in very few words why a World Cup in Brazil is not just like any other World Cup.

"The English invented football, but we turned it into a more exciting sport," Ronaldo told dpa in an interview in which he analyzed the tournament and the rivalry between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and made it clear that he thinks more and more like a businessman these days.

dpa: What does football mean to Brazilians?

Ronaldo: Football is our greatest passion. Perhaps like music, but football even more, because we are born and we grow up wanting to become football players. In Brazil, people of all ages live for football and get excited about it. So the English invented it but we turned it into a more exciting sport.

dpa: What is special about staging a World Cup in Brazil?

Ronaldo: It’s a great opportunity for the world to enjoy our quality as a country, to enjoy the cities fans are going to visit but also our people, who are so friendly, so happy, despite the problems.

dpa: Not once in history has a European team managed to win a World Cup in the Americas. Is there a specific reason for that? Will it happen again in Brazil 2014?

Ronaldo: I think it is quite complicated for a national team to win on a continent that is not its own. That also happens to South American teams that play in Europe. We find it very hard to win. I think Brazil have been the last to win, in Sweden, a long time ago. It’s very difficult to win on a different continent, but that’s not a rule: it’s not true it cannot happen.

dpa: Germany were Brazil’s rivals in that final in 2002 which gave you your second World Cup title. What are the differences between that Germany and their current side?

Ronaldo: The Germans are always favourites when you play a World Cup. Particularly when they play Brazil in a final or even earlier, those are always matches where you cannot predict the result. I see Brazil very strong, particularly after the Confed Cup, which they won playing very good football. But I see Germany quite strong too. I think that, along with Spain, those are my three favourites. I think they are going to play the leading roles in this World Cup.

dpa: And Argentina’s standard-bearer Lionel Messi?

Ronaldo: Messi has been playing a huge number of games for about five years, as the top star in the world of football. I am sure he is going to play a great World Cup. It is something he is missing, winning a World Cup. I think it is something that is going to be very difficult here in Brazil, but Argentina have a good team, they have been playing well for some time, so Argentina are also a team that could manage that.

dpa: Can you imagine a final Brazil-Argentina?

Ronaldo: That would be spectacular, just like Brazil-Germany. For me, the main thing is for Brazil to play the final, and then whoever the other team is it will be a great show.

dpa: What is it that you like best about Messi?

Ronaldo: I really like the way he plays and his overall quality, but above all I like a skill that I found it harder to pull off. I did it, but not very often. And Messi always does it: that is, when he carries the ball very, very close to his feet at high speed. We know and admire all his other characteristics, like scoring goals or dribbling. But that ability he has to carry the ball close to his feet fascinates me.

dpa: And about your namesake Cristiano Ronaldo?

Ronaldo: Like Messi, he is a very complete player, with a great will to score goals, with his right foot, his left foot, with headers... He helps out quite a bit in defensive tasks. I think they are both very complete players, it is very hard to find one aspect at which they are not good.

dpa: If you had the chance to grant Brazilian citizenship to either Messi or Cristiano, who would you choose?

Ronaldo: Both. I think I’d shut my eyes and pick either of the two. It doesn’t matter, they are both extraordinary players.

dpa: Is Neymar in a position to be Brazil’s great star in the World Cup?

Ronaldo: I am sure he is very well-prepared to do that. He is a great quality player, very young, and I’m sure that this time playing at Barcelona ahead of the World Cup will help him get to the World Cup with even more experience and playing better. Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar has a lot of quality, particularly considering that he is a bit younger and he has just left Brazil to play in Europe. He is already doing well and I’m sure he will do even better.

dpa: Following the Confederations Cup experience, Spain are somewhat concerned about the World Cup. Do the world champions have good reason to hide and preserve their privacy?

Ronaldo: There is nothing here in Brazil that might be a cause for concern for any national team. Brazil is a very calm, peaceful country, so all teams are welcome. Spain, perhaps because they have been for five years the world’s best team, are for some fans the team that Brazil need to beat. It is only a sport-related issue.

dpa: What is special about Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari?

Ronaldo: He is quite a complete coach, with very clear ideas about football, but above all he is a great manager for groups, people. A group of players is a group with roughly 25 people, and it is not easy to keep it united in search of an objective. I like his group-management features, and above all the way he motivates everyone.

dpa: Maracana inevitably brings memories of the "Maracanazo." Wouldn’t it be better for the Brazilian national team to have the final at a different stadium?

Ronaldo: I don’t think so. What happened with Brazil and Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup happened many years ago. I had not even been born then. Most people had not been born at that time. Maracana is our landmark stadium, our most famous stadium, and I think Maracana deserves the World Cup final. Of course, winning it is a different issue. I hope we can win, so that people are happier.

dpa: It is a stadium that lost both spectator capacity and its soul in remodelling...

Ronaldo: I think it remains the same Maracana as always, and above all, it is more beautiful and better prepared to host people. Nowadays football is a very global sport, and most people watch it from home on television. And today’s Maracana is ready to broadcast that show to the whole world.

dpa: World Cup organizers in Brazil have been the target of a lot of criticism, and the same happens with Qatar 2022. Do football World Cups inevitably violate social rights?

Ronaldo: I think most of the allegations are false. For example, no one has been evicted from their homes in Brazil for stadium works. I am not sure how far allegations on Qatar have been checked, or whether they reflect the complete truth. I think football is a sport that is of interest around the world and for everyone in society. I think it is difficult to have everything under control. Unfortunately there are people who do things that are wrong. But I think football organizers hold them accountable for that, and so do we.