winner Cristiano Ronaldo and his rival Lionel Messi,
comparing them to tennis greats Roger Federer and Novak
Djokovic.
Ronaldo claimed his fourth Ballon d'Or on Monday to close
within one award of Messi, as the two superstars continue
their thrilling tussle for the right to be heralded as the
greatest player in the world.
Former Manchester United forward Ronaldo won the
Champions League and Euro 2016 with Real Madrid and
Portugal respectively last season.
And Hagi, an icon of Romanian football who enjoyed his
own spell at the game's pinnacle in the 1990s, pinpointed
the desire of the two superstars as the driving force behind
their sustained levels of excellence.
"Because he trains, because he heals, always ... he wants
to win," Hagi told Omnisport when asked what sets
Ronaldo apart.
"The difference on the field isn't always the motivation in
life. [It is] the player's ambition. What you did yesterday no
longer works, today you go [onto] the field and you have to
be the best.
"The football players aren't actors. In the movies you make
a film and you can watch it 100 times. No, not for the
player, each game is different. So you have to be
motivated. That's my opinion, the player has to be
motivated.
"This is one of the qualities to become one of the best of the
world. One of the qualities of Ronaldo, of Messi, of players that achieve that level is that ... they are motivated."
Having played for both Madrid and Barca, Hagi's loyalties
are split when it comes to deciding which star is his
favourite, although the 51-year-old did express a fondness
for Messi's invention.
"They are two players that make my life happy," he said.
"We are living [through] a football [era] with two amazing
players, one has technical quality and the other has
strength. You can have a great body but it all starts in your
mind.
"He [Messi]'s very creative, he has a lot of technique and
talent, pure talent. Like in tennis, [Roger] Federer would be
Messi and [Novak] Djokovic would be Cristiano Ronaldo."
0 Comments