23 December 2023 , 07:00
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There has rarely been scope for middle ground when it comes to football's GOAT debate - either you're team Lionel Messi or team Cristiano Ronaldo.
And traditionally, opinions among fellow professional players has been dictated by whether they were ever a teammate of either during their careers. The past 12 months have been widely perceived as the period that settled the debate though, with Messi lifting the World Cup with Argentina last December before winning a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or crown this year.
Toni Kroos is one star to have rubbed shoulders with Ronaldo, playing alongside him for four years at the Bernabeu before the forward left for Juventus in 2018. The pair lifted three Champions League crowns as teammates, as well as four FIFA World Club Cup trophies and the La Liga title.
Kroos, 33, remains at Real, and once lauded Ronaldo as the greatest ever, albeit it while admitting he was "forbidden to do otherwise." The midfielder was quoted as saying: "From my playing days, it's Cristiano Ronaldo. Of course, I'm biased because he made a decisive contribution to us winning a lot of titles. It was exciting and impressive to play alongside Ronaldo.
"We were not only team-mates but also neighbours in the dressing room and neighbours in private. He lived right next to me. Seeing what a perfectionist he is was impressive. That is why it is forbidden for me to name Messi."
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But with the 38-year-old now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia, Kroos has seemingly had a change of heart. And speaking to MagentaTV he cited Messi's World Cup win as decisive: "He (Messi) deserves it," he said.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Toni Kroos were teammates at Real Madrid (Elisa Estrada)HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Messi or Ronaldo the GOAT? Comment below.
"In terms of individual performances in a championship (World Cup), I've never seen a footballer play as regularly as this guy. You have to take into account that he has never played for clubs that I find very funny, something that proves that I mean it.”
It's unclear whether those comments have got back to Ronaldo, but should they do so then Kroos is likely to know about. In 2021, the Portuguese star unfollowed another former teammate in Angel Di Maria on Instagram, after he posted that Messi was "the best" following Argentina's Copa America triumph.
But Kroos and Di Maria aren't the only former Ronaldo teammates to have their heads turned. Sergio Ramos, another Real Madrid legend who later joined Messi at PSG, later admitted: "Messi is one of the best in the world, if not the best."