Barcelona striker Lionel Messi has revealed that Ronaldo was one of his heroes – but not his Portuguese rival.

“Ronaldo was my hero,” Messi was quoted as saying in the latest edition of British football magazine FourFourTwo, referring to the Bra-zilian Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, not Real Madrid’s Cristiano, with whom he is vying for the Ballon d’Or.

“I loved watching players like Zidane, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo but Ronaldo was the best striker I’ve ever seen,” he added.

“He was so fast he could score from nothing, and could shoot the ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Messi, 25, is tipped to pick up the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best footballer.

Like Ronaldo, who also played at Barcelona, and Zidane he has won the prestigious accolade three times.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.