Former England and Real Madrid boss Fabio Capello previously named the three best players of all time – and there was no spot for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Capello, 79, represented the likes of AC Milan, Roma, Juventus and the Italy national team during his playing days before he embarked on a trophy-laden career in management.
His first big job came in 1991, when he was appointed as manager of AC Milan. In his first season he helped the Rossoneri to the Serie A title before guiding them to European glory with a Champions League triumph in 1993-94.
During his time at the Italian giants, he managed iconic players such as Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Zvonimir Boban just to name a few.
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In 1996-97, he took charge of Real Madrid and like he did in Milan, won the league in his first season before returning to AC Milan the following season. Spells as coach of Roma, Juve, England, Russia and Jiangsu followed and the list of world class players he managed grew further having worked with top talents such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard with the Three Lions.
But none of the aforementioned players were named when the Italian manager picked the three stars who he considered to be the best of all time.
In a previous interview relayed by Planet Football, Capello said: “Ronaldo Nazario is just behind them [three players].
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“Cristiano Ronaldo is a good player but not at this level. He scores goals but these three players have extra imagination and make something you can’t understand.
“These three players have extra imagination. They made something that you can’t understand.”
As you may have expected, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi made the cut.
Speaking about the first time he saw Messi in 2005, Capello said: “His personal quality, dribbling, fantasy… he grabbed the ball and went straight for goal with an unusual audacity.
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“[Franco] Baresi or [Paolo] Maldini were players who we knew would reach the top because of the great talent they had. From there, a lot depends on the head of the player.
“If they like to sacrifice: train, train, play, train, train, play… but with Messi, I noticed something different from what we had seen so far.”
Brazilian legend Pele also made the list with Capello describing him as ahead of Messi and Diego Maradona with Ronaldo Nazario just behind them.
Topics: Fabio Capello, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Football, Real Madrid, England
Luke Davies