Former Brazil Star Kaka’s Soccer GOAT Isn’t Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo

The former Brazil star named his “greatest of all time” in the sport on Tuesday.

Soccer fans often find themselves embroiled in debate over which modern star—Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo—is the GOAT, or “greatest of all time.” For Kaká, a former star midfielder for Brazil as well as AC Milan and Real Madrid during his prime, the answer to that question is one of his countrymen: Ronaldo.

“I had the great opportunity to play with the best players in the world. I’ve played with Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, [Andriy] Shevchenko, [Paolo] Maldini,” Kaká said at a FIFA World Cup trophy tour event in New York on Tuesday. “I’ve played with Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, [Karim] Benzema but the best one for me … is Ronaldo Fenômeno.”

Ronaldo, nicknamed “O Fenômeno” (The Phenomenon) in his native Brazil, is considered one of the other all-time greats, and is especially revered among Brazilians such as Kaká. The two overlapped on Brazil’s national team, for which Ronaldo starred from 1994 to 2011 and Kaká from 2002 to ’16. 

While Ronaldo’s career scoring numbers don’t approach Cristiano’s 818 career goals or Messi’s 785, he was clearly a widely influential player. 

“Ronaldo was my hero,” Messi told FourFourTwo in 2012. “He was the best forward I’ve ever seen. He was so fast that he could score a goal from nothing and he struck the ball better than anyone I’ve seen.”

Ronaldo’s and Kaká’s native Brazil seeks to win its first World Cup since 2002, and will begin in Group G with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also will be in action, as Argentina heads up Group C (Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland) and Portugal is slotted into Group H (Ghana, Uruguay, Korea Republic). 

World Cup play in Qatar begins on Sunday, Nov. 20.

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