Dutch Great Sneijder Explains How His Love for Life Prevented Him From Reaching the Heights of Messi & Ronaldo

• Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder reckons his love for life prevented him from having the same career as Ronaldo and Messi
• The watershed moment in his career came in the 2009-10 season, spearheading Mourinho's Inter Milan to win the Serie A, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League
• Sneijder also won the Eredivisie, La Liga and Super Lig titles with Ajax, Real Madrid and Galatasaray respectively, and won the Silver Boot and Bronze Ball awards at the 2010 World Cup

Ex-Netherlands midfielder Wesley Sneijder believes he could have reached the same level as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Inter Milan legend, who played a key role in Inter Milan's treble-winning campaign in 2010, confessed he could have mirrored the aforementioned duo but his preference to enjoy living his life derailed that prospect.

In a glittering career which saw him feature for some of Europe's top clubs, the former Dutch attacking midfielder narrowly missed out on the Ballon d'Or to Barcelona trio Xavi, Iniesta and Lionel Messi, who eventually won the coveted diadem.

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Sneijder finished fourth in the rankings after leading Jose Mourinho's Nerazurris to a historic treble before scoring five vital goals during the Netherland's run to the World Cup final that summer.

Reflecting on his career, Sneijder argued he could have been as good as Ronaldo or Messi but he "simply didn't feel like it."

"I could have become like Messi or Ronaldo. I simply didn't feel like it," he told Gianluca di Marzio as quoted by Sports Bible.

He continued: "I enjoyed my life, maybe I had a glass [of wine] at dinner. Leo and Cristiano are different, they have made many sacrifices.

"And that's fine with me, my career, however, was still amazing."

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Gone are the days when Cristiano Ronaldo used to play football on the streets in Portugal when he was young, but today, the 37-year-old is a proud winner of 5 Ballon d'Or awards.

Only Lionel Messi on 7 has won more Ballon d'Or awards than Cristiano Ronaldo and these two footballers have been rivals for more than ten years.