Piers Morgan ranks Lionel Messi as fourth best footballer ever behind Cristiano Ronaldo in exchange with Jeff Stelling
PIERS MORGAN has named Lionel Messi as the FOURTH greatest footballer of all-time.
Messi, 35, reached his second World Cup final in sensational style on Tuesday night as he scored and assisted in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Croatia.
Lionel Messi was sensational for Argentina yet again in their semi-final victoryGetty
Piers Morgan still believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player of all timeSplash
Yet despite his sublime displays in Qatar, Morgan still believes Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player of all time.
The SunSport columnist did begin by acknowledging Messi and Argentina for reaching the final.
Speaking on Twitter, he said: “Congratulations to Argentina & Lionel Messi on reaching the World Cup final. Never doubted them.”
But England legend Gary Lineker, who has always maintained Messi is the greatest of all time, then asked Morgan: “Is there still a debate? Asking for a goat.”
To which he replied: “There isn’t. It’s Ronaldo.”
Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling then pressed him on his take, saying: “So where are we now @piersmorgan in the Ronaldo v Messi debate?”
And Morgan responded by insisting both Diego Maradona and Brazilian Ronaldo are also bigger legends than Messi.
He said: “I think Cristiano Ronaldo’s the best ever, Maradona 2nd, Messi 3rd (possibly 4th actually, behind R9 [Brazilian Ronaldo]).”
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Last month, Morgan’s explosive interview with Ronaldo ultimately led to his Manchester United contract being terminated.
He then headed to the World Cup with Portugal as a free agent and scored in their opening 3-2 win over Ghana.
But struggles against Uruguay and South Korea followed, before he was dropped for their 6-1 win over Switzerland in the last-16.
And Fernando Santos’ men were then eliminated by Morocco in the quarter-finals as Ronaldo’s hopes of winning the World Cup came to an end.
Yet his long-time rival Messi has kept his dream alive and will – in many people’s eyes – further solidify himself as the greatest ever with a win on Sunday.
EPACristiano Ronaldo had a poor World Cup with Portugal[/caption]
