“Of course, I would have loved to have played more with Messi”..”I’m very glad to have helped him at the beginning of his career with the assistance of his first goal”. – Ronaldinho
The Brazilian wanted to spend more time playing alongside his No.10 successor at Barcelona and insists the Argentine has nothing more to prove as the world’s best.
Ronaldinho says the one regret he has from his playing career is not playing more with Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was establishing himself at Camp Nou when Ronaldinho was heading for the exit door in 2008, and revealed last year that the Brazilian told him to take his No.10 shirt upon his departure.
Ronaldinho went on to join Milan before touring his native Brazil as Messi became Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, as well as the leading scorer in La Liga history.
“I’ve achieved everything I wanted to and I’m grateful for that,”Ronaldinho is quoted as saying by Gulf News.
“Of course, I would have loved to have played more with Messi, he’s a great player and I’m very glad to have helped him at the beginning of his career with the assistance of his first goal.
“Having seen him go on to become such a great player, it would have been great to have played more with him, but at that time my period at Barca was over and it was time for me to move to achieve new things and set new objectives, so the time had come for me to leave.”
He added: “Messi is a great player and the Argentina national team is a great team, I believe they have a real chance of winning the next World Cup.
“He demonstrates that he’s the best every day. Week-in-week-out he keeps playing at such a level that demonstrates how good he really is, so there’s no real need for him to show anymore at the World Cup.
“But as my friend I always wish him the best as I do all of my friends.”
