Romario: Brazil Legend Explains Why He’s Better Than Lionel Messi

• Romario has made a controversial pick between himself and Lionel Messi
• The 57-year-old is regarded as one of the sport's most prolific goal scorers
• The Brazil and Barcelona great helped Brazil win the 1994 FIFA World Cup

Romário de Souza Faria, perhaps better known as Romario, has explained why he believes he is better than Lionel Messi.

The Brazil football icon made his assertion in his combined Johan Cruyff versus Pep Guardiola Barcelona dream team.

Both Romario and Messi had impressive spells during their stints with the Catalan giants and are both held in high esteem at Camp Nou.

Although the Argentine is touted as the greatest player in the history of Barcelona - and by extension the greatest in the sport - the Brazilian has a contrasting view.

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Romario on why he's better

Romario, who made 65 appearances for La Blaugrana, scoring 39 goals and providing 11 assists, reckoned his versatility made him a better player than Argentina's World Cup-winning captain.

“Because we play different positions. In his position, he is the best. In mine, I am better than he is,” Romario said as quoted by Sportskeeda.

Who else did Romario pick?

Romario, who has transitioned into politics since retiring, picked Andoni Zubizarretta ahead of Victor Valdes to man the posts, per Daily Post.

For the right-back position, the 57-year-old favoured Brazilian compatriot, Dani Alves over Albert Ferrer.

In the heart of midfield between Pep Guardiola and Sergio Busquets as the defensive midfielder of his team, Romario picked the Manchester City boss.

He then opted for Ronald Koeman over Gerard Pique, Angel Nadal over Javier Mascherano, and Andres Iniesta over Jose Bakero.

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The 1994 World Cup winner preferred Sergi Barjuan over Frenchman, Eric Abidal at left-back and Hristo Stoichkov over David Villa.

He chose current Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez over Guillermo Amor and opted for Txiki Begiristain over Pedro.

Romario ranked among top scorers

Brazilian legend, Romario is third on the list of all-time top scorers with 772 goals, while his compatriot Pele is fourth with 767.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who has so far scored 785 career goals, is recognised by FIFA as the second top scorer of all time.

Ronaldo smashed the international goal record following his brace in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers.

Mourinho rejects Messi as GOAT

Sports Brief earlier reported on AS Roma boss, Jose Mourinho sharing his opinion on the never-ending debate about who is the greatest footballer of all time.

Opinion has always been divided on the debate, with fans often split on who between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is the GOAT.

But while delving into the never-ending debate, Mourinho snubbed both Messi and Cristiano, declaring Ronaldo Nazario as the greatest to grace the game.