Russian President Vladimir Putin Ignores Ronaldo and Messi, Names His Three Greatest Footballers of All Time

• Vladimir Putin names Brazilian legend Pele, late Argentine superstar Diego Maradona and late Russian legend Lev Yashin as his three greatest players
• The Russian president ignored multiple Ballon d’Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when nominating his greatest players
• Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer, the Argentinian World Cup champion and the nine-time European Goalkeeper of the Year are undoubtedly solid choices from Putin

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has named his choices when asked about whom his greatest footballers of all time are, Daily Star reports.

The 69-year-old practically snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in his selection of the world’s top three footballers.

Despite splitting 12 Ballon d’Or titles between themselves, with Messi winning it seven times while CR7 has five of the awards, Putin instead opted for players who dominated the game in the past.

He named Pele and Diego Maradona when asked about the top two spots after the duo dominated the game throughout the 1960s and 1980s respectively.

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Putin also included Russia's most highly esteemed shot-stopper with Lev Yashin rounding off his selections.

Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer, the Argentinian World Cup champion and the nine-time European Goalkeeper of the Year are undoubtedly solid choices from Putin but the absence of Messi or Ronaldo is striking.

Twitter acknowledges Messi and Ronaldo's G.O.A.T status

Meanwhile, the microblogging platform, Twitter, has finally acknowledged Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T).

G.O.A.T is an acronym for “Greatest Of All Time,” which is commonly used in sports when referring to players who are widely considered the most talented.

Ronaldo and Messi are the two most followed footballers on social media, and the question of who is better between the two has dominated the minds of football fans everywhere for the past decade.

And now Twitter has honoured the Manchester United icon and the Paris Saint Germain superstar with the GOAT emoji to trends pertaining to them.

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Mbappe makes U-turn over initial G.O.A.T comments

Sports Brief earlier reported that Kylian Mbappe appears to have made a U-turn on who between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is football's greatest of all time.

Opinion has always remained divided among fans, pundits, and even footballers on who is better than the other.

Mbappe is among the few active players who have openly voiced their opinion on the never-ending debate.

Growing up, the Frenchman has always been a Ronaldo fan, with his admiration for the Man United star going as far as the PSG ace plastering his room with posters of the ex-Real Madrid icon.