Warlos Tévez is one of the few players who can afford to say that he played with Cristiano Ronaldo (at Manchester United) and Lionel Messi (in Argentina’s main team), and, in an extensive interview given this Thursday, to Rio Ferdinand, the former central defender with whom he shared a dressing room at Old Trafford, explained what he believes separates both of these ‘colossi’, placing his compatriot above.
“For me, Messi, because Messi is natural, it comes naturally to him. We saw Cristiano, who, with every dribble or every movement he made, was always training. I’ve never seen Messi train like that”, began by stating the former Argentine international, currently 42 years old, in a conversation shared on the YouTube channel ‘Rio Ferdinand Presents‘.
“If we go to the physical side, Messi’s power and Ronaldo’s power, they are equal. I think the difference is that, head on, Ronaldo scored many more goals than Messi. Then, in terms of shooting, Messi improved a lot, and so did Cristiano. The hunger they have to be the best… I think that that competition they had made them both grow, and they were always at the top”, he continued.
“Something was happening with Messi… He said ‘Don’t worry. Today, we won, 2-0’, and we won, 2-0, with two goals. You could see that he had no desire to play and didn’t do anything, but, if he told you ‘Today, we will win, 3-0’, he would score the three goals, easily. And we know that Cristiano had to demand more of himself, he had to play as equals. He could score the three goals, but I didn’t tell you, before, with the certainty with which I said Messi”, he added.
Even so, Carlos Tévez caught Rio Ferdinand by surprise, when he confessed that “the best” player he had the opportunity to play with was… Paul Scholes, another former Red Devil who ‘turned’ sports commentator: “At this size, he didn’t say anything. On the first ball, ‘vrum’. In training, it was always pass, pass, pass. For me, it was the best”.
“Cristiano Ronaldo gave that ‘glamour’ to Manchester United”
Carlos Tévez then explained what it was like to form, together with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, what was one of the most ‘fearsome’ offensive tridents in the history of world football: “I came across Rooney and Ronaldo, two very, very aggressive players, very active in the area”.
“One came from England, the other from Argentina, and Cristiano gave that ‘glamour’ to the team, but we had (Michael) Carrick, who also had… We also had (Ryan) Giggs. They had that style of play, together with Scholes, Rooney and I, who were much more aggressive”, recalled the former striker, who, in his career, also represented Corinthians, West Ham, Manchester City, Juventus, Shanghai Shenhua and Boca Juniors.
“I understand Wazza, and you understand me. At that time Cristiano was number 1. Do you remember that team? We won 3-0, Cristiano didn’t score and he was left (with his head down)… I understand Cristiano, but I also understand Wazza. If you saw Wazza, you would understand”, he concluded.
