Highlights

• Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are considered by most to be the greatest footballers of the modern era, if not all time.
• However, Deco played with both and has claimed that Barcelona legend Ronaldinho was the best of the three.
• He explained why in an interview once, but still praised Messi's natural talent and Ronaldo's insatiable hunger.

In Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's 16-year duopoly, they won a combined total of 13 Ballon d'Ors, with only Real Madrid's Luka Modric and Karim Benzema winning football's golden prize besides them in that period. The upshot of such dominance is the origin of the sport's biggest war of words debate over the last decade.

Some will prefer Messi's dancing feet and mazey dribbling, while others have a softer spot for Ronaldo's ability to score tons of goals wherever he goes. But no matter which way anyone puts it, it seems that the only two answers to 'who is the greatest footballer of all time?' is one of those two names.

Indeed, there are few outside contenders. Diego Maradona and Pele are often recognised as the best of the rest, but anyone who mentions anyone else is given a cold shoulder. However, when it's a former footballer - a good one at that - people sit up and take notice. And Porto and Barcelona legend, Deco, once made a big call when he stated that it is Ronaldinho who takes football's crown in his view. He once said:

From the outset, it is clear that Leo and Cristiano are the greatest.

Especially because no one thought they could take so many years to this level, but the one that impressed me most despite not being so decisive was Ronnie [Ronaldinho]. For me, he will always be the best.

Deco on Ronaldinho

'He will always be the best"

Deco's 75 matches with the Portuguese national team coincided with many of Ronaldo's - and during his Barcelona days, he played out a four-year spell with Messi. However, it's his midfield partner Ronaldinho who gets the majority of his plaudits.

The two Portuguese speakers hit it off immediately in Barcelona, with the duo even living together at one stage, with Deco telling Spanish outlet AS:

We met in Barcelona and I connected with him immediately, the moments I lived with him are difficult to compare to anything. He was magical.

Friendship is one of many ingredients leading to flattery. But while that may have played a part in Deco's belief that Ronaldinho is the best of all time, the transcendental abilities and grand accolades should not go understated. The Brazilian midfielder scored 197 goals and provided 167 assists in 547 club appearances, which also led to him being awarded the Ballon d'Or in 2005.

The two of them won two La Liga titles together and their coruscating moment with the Catalan giants came in 2006 when Samuel Eto'o and Juliano Belletti scored to help Barcelona come from behind and beat Arsenal in the Champions League final. Joined by the hip, they would both be sold in 2008 upon Pep Guardiola's managerial arrival, with the reasoning being that Deco and Ronaldinho would often turn up to training drunk, and there was a fear that they would bring Messi down with them.

Deco on Messi and Ronaldo

"The ideal world would be to have both in my team"

Of course, any question relating to either Ronaldo, Messi, or both, will bring about superlatives in abundance. This was no different with Deco, who was quick to acknowledge that the Real Madrid and Barcelona icons were both great in their own unique way, saying:

I remember the first time [I saw Messi play], and I see him now and nothing has changed. He continues to play with the same calmness to face things, with simplicity of movement on the field. At 18 years old, it was logical to be scared, but he wasn't.

They were always very different. It was clear with Cristiano that he always wanted more. He always wanted more in training, in games, he always asked for more. He was a lot less calm with his success.

Born in Brazil, Deco was never called up to the Brazil national team, as the Brazil squad for the 2002 World Cup included other attacking midfielders such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Juninho. After completing six years of residence in Portugal, he was able to gain Portuguese citizenship and play for their national team alongside Ronaldo – with both later becoming some of the greatest players in their history.

He retired from international football after the 2010 World Cup, thus missing out on the 2016 Euros glory. Nevertheless, Ronaldo's winning mentality still left a mark on Deco. And as for his short time with Messi, the sky-high ceiling was discernible from the very start. In an interview with FourFourTwo, he continued to praise the Argentine World Cup winner:

Messi has always been a natural talent. He has adapted his game over time, but his way of moving has always been the same.

Though he might not have chosen either of them as his greatest of all time, Deco also admitted that "it's so hard to pick between the two", while he wished both of them were in his team: "The ideal world would be to have both in my team – with them, you just pass them the ball and the rest is done!"