E-Paper
Lionel Messi best in the world right now, not Cristiano Ronaldo - Javier Saviola
Saviola is one of the few footballers in the world who has played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. But when it came to deciding the best player in the world right now, he had a clear winner in his mind.
When Brazilian legend Pele was asked to compile a ‘FIFA 100’ for the 100th anniversary of the organization in 2014, he decided to add a number of upcoming talents in his list. One such talent was Argentine striker Javier Saviola who was playing for Barcelona at that point and while he was not able to light the stage on fire, the ‘Little Rabbit’ had a decent run in the La Liga with the Catalans.
Fourteen years and almost 400 appearances later, Saviola has now retired from football and when asked about his own list of talents, he was quick to take the names of Paulo Dybala and Kylian Mbappe.
“When it comes to upcoming talents, Paulo Dybala is an extremely promising one and he is on the right path to occupy the same space that Messi occupies in the Argentina team right now.
“(Kylian) Mbappe is also a great talent who has proved his mettle on the grand stage. But, I think it will be really difficult for the new stars to surpass Messi and Cristiano right now,” he told the Hindustan Times.
Saviola is one of the few footballers in the world who has played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. But when it came to deciding the best player in the world right now, he had a clear winner in his mind.
“Personally, I prefer Lionel Messi over Cristiano (Ronaldo) because the way he plays is the way I believe football should be played. There is no doubt that Cristiano is a fantastic player but how Messi has played in the last few years show why he is the best in the world,” Saviola explained.
Saviola, who was in India as part of the Barcelona legends team, visited the FC Barcelona academy in Gurugram and he interacted with the students. With more than 18 years of experience, he was happy to share anecdotes with the kids and said that the experience took him back to his own childhood.
“It was a great experience to interact with the kids at the academy and it took me back to the time when I was a young footballer. I would love to continue this association in the days to come,” he said.
After playing for a number of clubs in his career, Saviola finally retired as a player in 2016 and he has been an assistant coach for the Andorran club FC Ordino ever since. However, he is looking for a new challenge after taking coaching courses and he believes that India can be a possible destination for him.
“We do not get the Indian football leagues on TV back home and as a result, I have no followed much of this country’s football. But, I just finished my courses and I would love to come to India as a coach.”
