Lionel Messi still better than Neymar, says Brazilian legend Rivaldo

Rivaldo in action during the 2002 FIFA World Cup

Former Brazilian playmaker Rivaldo admitted that Lionel Messi is still the better player compared to his country-mate Neymar. The Argentine is considered as the “greatest” ever to play the game by some, but his failure to win major trophies at the international level has barred his entry into the ‘elite class’ beside Pele and Maradona. On the other hand, Neymar is the player to watch out in the future years, having already achieved success with his national and club sides.

Both of them play with the Catalan giants and form a lethal forward line along with Uruguayan Luis Suarez and are collectively called ‘MSN’. Rivaldo is also a former player at the Camp Nou, winning the La Liga 2 times.

As quoted by L'Equipe the Brazilian World Cup winner said, "But for all that he has achieved over the past decade, the excellent season that he was still able to have, but also his immense talent, Lionel Messi is still, for me, the star and the best player at Barca."

Neymar is currently playing for the Brazilian team at the Rio Olympics and has successfully guided the hosts to the semi-finals. They are scheduled to play Honduras in the last four while Nigeria will clash off against Germany in the other fixture.

Rivaldo, who was a part of the Brazilian team which won the Bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, mentioned that the current team is quite capable of winning a Gold medal in their own backyard.

“I think this time, with the quality of the current team, the presence of players with great experience at top European clubs – including Neymar – we've obviously got a real opportunity to get to the top of the podium”, said the 2002 World Cup winner.

Lionel Messi, on the other hand, lost three consecutive finals at major tournaments in the past 3 years and was had earlier decided to retire from International football. But recently, he changed his mind and announced his comeback in the blue and white-striped jersey. It is a pretty different picture of him with FC Barcelona where he won probably every tournament he played.

Rivaldo was one of the most influential players of his generation having guided his national team to the Finals in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and to the Trophy in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Apart from that, he was named the “Player of the Tournament” in the 1999 Copa America which Brazil had won.

Here is a video of Rivaldo speaking about his career in football.