“I really like him” - Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate Bernardo Silva follows in Lionel Messi’s footsteps as he picks football idol
Cristiano Ronaldo's international teammate and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has the same idol as Lionel Messi — Pablo Aimar. Silva, who came through Benfica's youth ranks before moving to England to join City, has never played in Argentina, the home country of his idol.
During an interview with ESPN Argentina, the City midfielder said like Messi, Silva, too, was mesmerized by Aimar as a kid.
"My idol? I really liked watching Pablo Aimar when I was a kid... I really like him," Bernardo Silva said.
He also revealed which Argentine club among Boca Juniors and River Plate was his favorite from the Superclásico.
“Boca or River? I don’t have favourite, but my idol is Pablo Aimar and I really like Saviola, so I like River Plate more,” Bernardo added.
Aimar, who is currently managing the Argentina U17 team, had a storied career that included 52 appearances with the national team (eight goals and seven assists).
His career began with River Plate in 1996 from where he moved to Spain in 2001 to play for Valencia and Real Zaragoza. He then moved to Portugal for five years with Benfica (2008-2013) where he caught the fancy of Bernardo Silva, who was in the youth system at the time.
Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? - Bernardo Silva's sly answer
The Portuguese midfielder had previously dodged the question of who he preferred out of arguably the two most accomplished footballers of all time — Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola tried to get the answer from the 30-year-old by asking him which nickname he preferred — 'Messi of Seixal' (the area of Lisbon that Silva comes from) or 'the Ronaldo of Manchester.'
"I don't like either of them," he said after laughing at the question. "Because comparisons are always made... I like being Bernardo. Of course it's a source of pride sometimes to be compared to one player or another, but I don't like either of those nicknames."
Bernardo had earlier mentioned to BBC Sport that he feels privileged to be able to watch Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of the greatest footballers of all time, playing together.
"I think we need to feel privileged to be able to watch them (Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi) at the same time together. They are two of the best players ever - if not the two best players ever,” Bernardo was quoted as saying.
Silva, after Portugal's quarter-final exit at Euro 2024, will be aiming to return to winning ways with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, who started their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday (August 18).