Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, has hailed Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazario as one of the greatest players of all-time in the FIFA World Cup scoring charts after scoring a hat-trick in his side’s 3-0 win over Algeria this week.
Messi also expressed surprise that the former Inter Milan and Real Madrid striker wasn’t in first place.
The 38-year-old Inter Miami forward surpassed Ronaldo’s 15 World Cup goals before equalling Germany legend Miroslav Klose’s 16 World Cup goals, thanks to his three goals against Algeria in their World Cup opener.
“It is a great honour to be able to compete with all these greats, including Ronaldo Nazario, among the players I have watched,” Messi said (as per Albiceleste Talk).
“He was one of the greatest players of all time, and yet he is not in first place. So in the end, it’s just a statistic.”
Messi will now hope to lead Argentina to victory when they face Austria in their next game.