12 football legends who think Ronaldo Nazario was better than Cristiano Ronaldo
While Cristiano Ronaldo is considered one of the greatest players of all time, plenty of football legends think that Ronaldo Nazario is the superior player.
In terms of career achievements and longevity, CR7 certainly has the edge over R9, but the Brazilian forward was a force to be reckoned with in his prime.
We’ve gathered the thoughts of 12 former players who think that R9 was a better player than CR7.
Thierry Henry
Back in 2022, Henry made headlines when he referred to R9 as the ‘real’ Ronaldo.
When asked if he’s ever swapped shirts with another player, Henry told CBS: “I did, Ronaldo, R9. The real one.
“Growing up, how many Ronaldo did you know when you were growing up? In the game, people would say he’s the real one. Ronaldo is R9, Cristiano is Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Kaka
Despite spending four years playing alongside CR7 at Real Madrid, Kaka overlooked CR7 in favour of R9 when naming his greatest-ever teammate.
“The best player I have ever played with? That’s Ronaldo. I have seen Il Fenomeno do things that nobody else has ever done.
“For me, the best players are those who are able to think of a play and execute it quickest and in the best way possible, and Ronaldo Nazario has been the best at that.
“The speed of thought that he had – and the speed he had to carry out his actions – were perfect. It was something amazing. I’ve thought a lot about other players before. I think he was a phenomenon.”
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Alan Shearer
While Shearer has spoken highly of CR7 in the past, the Newcastle legend didn’t hesitate when picking between the two players.
When asked by Gary Lineker who the superior Ronaldo is, Shearer swiftly replied: “Oh, R9.”
Micah Richards
“I think Cristiano (Ronaldo) is a better goalscorer. But if you look at R9’s goals and you look at CR7’s goals, R9 just finds a way,” Richards said on the Rest is Football podcast.
“Sometimes he would just beat three players dink someone or whatever it may be whereas I think Cristiano just finds a way to score, so I think he would score more.”
Ian Wright
During a recent interview with GOAL, Wright was forced to pick between them and after some hesitation, he went with R9.
“I think when you speak to the greats and ask them about R9 in respect of his ability, he was called a Fenomeno for the reasons that he was phenomenal.
“Pace, skill, goalscoring ability, vision, creativity. All those players that you mentioned alongside him are magnificent players and great in their own way. But I guarantee if you ask any of those to put themselves up against R9, they would pick R9 as well.”
Samir Nasri
The Frenchman holds R9 in very high regard and along with Ronaldinho, he thinks both players were more talented than CR7 and Lionel Messi.
“Ronaldo (R9) and Ronaldinho in terms of pure talent if they had been serious, they extinguish. For me, they extinguish Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” Nasri said during an interview this year.
“There are coaches who have worked and have seen all these players before their eyes. They said, ‘I’ve never seen Ronaldo the Brazilian what he could do. And I’ve never seen anyone else do it.'”
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Christian Vieri
“I am a friend of Ronnie and I was lucky enough to have him as a striker with me. He had it all. He was explosive, powerful and fast. He looked like a dancer, he seemed to dance with the ball.
“I say that Brazilian Ronaldo is better than Cristiano Ronaldo.
“CR7 is a war machine, he is admirable for everything he does and for all the things he continues to do. Cristiano can play up to 40 years with a cigarette between his lips, as they say in Italy. He has a sculptural physique.”
Alessandro Nesta
“I can play, yeah. Because I played against Ronaldo – the Brazilian. Haaland is very good, but the other one (Ronaldo Nazario) was something different.
“I played against Messi, against Cristiano but the Brazilian Ronaldo for me was different.”
Jose Mourinho
“When he was at Barcelona with Bobby Robson, I realised that he was the best player I’d ever seen take to the field,” Mourinho told LiveScore.
“Injuries killed a career that could have been even more incredible, but the talent that that 19-year-old boy had was something incredible.
“Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi have had longer careers. They have remained at the top every day for 15 years.
“However, if we are talking strictly about talent and skill, nobody surpasses Ronaldo.”
Luis Figo
Having played with both of them, Figo is better placed than most to pick between the two players.
While the Portuguese legend was quick to recognise CR7’s talent, he thinks that R9 has the slight edge when commenting on both players back in 2018.
“It depends, Cristiano is capable of scoring a lot of goals with his head, but the two strikers are very impressive,” Figo told DAZN.
“While Cristiano is still playing, I’ll say Ronaldo (R9) was the best in front of goal.
“But the two of them guarantee you lots of goals in any team. All you have to do is pass them the ball and they do the rest.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
When pushed to name his best-ever player, Ibrahimovic overlooked the likes of Messi and CR7 to name R9 as his favourite instead.
“Ronaldo the Phenomenon,” Ibrahimovic said in 2021. “As a child I imitated him.”
Mikael Silvestre
Despite playing alongside CR7, Silvestre still thinks that his Brazilian counterpart is a slightly superior player.
“You called him ‘El Fenomeno’ then. I played against [Lionel] Messi and I played with Cristiano at Manchester United, but he [Ronaldo] is something else in terms of speed,” Silvestre told the Manchester United club website.
“Everything is top level [with Ronaldo].
“Cristiano, maybe you can guess that he has three or four tricks he would use most of the time, but Ronnie, it was always something different.
“He was inventing things on the spot, so you can’t guide him left or right because he’s going to get out of these situations, no matter what.
“He could score from any type of position. He was playing on one leg at some points and was still beating defenders all over Europe.”