Despite their intense rivalry while the "Don" was a member of the Real Madrid team, former Barcelona defender Dani Alves has revealed his adoration for the Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo.
In comments published by the Catalan newspaper "Sport," Alves stated: "Now that I'm not in Barcelona, I can talk. I like Cristiano generally, but now it's not Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. You never appeared to be able to speak, but I'm not there. right now .
He said, "Cristiano is the finest example for all of us, showing that we don't need a lot of skill and that we can compete with the best with hard effort. He is highly regarded by me.
He went on, "When I attempted to greet him once, he refused to do so, which led to some controversy. We also had a disagreement at the Ballon d'Or because he refused to greet me there due to all the fuss."
The senior Brazilian went on to say: "They argued that he wouldn't respect me if I didn't respect him. But how can I not admire somebody who put so much effort into it? I agree with him; this is the course that my entire life has taken."
"If you compare me as a player to the others, I will be closer to Cristiano than Leo (Messi) because of the way I work," the player stated. I put a lot of effort into getting where I am. Great skill was not a factor. Yes, a portion of it existed, but the majority was hard effort. And Cristiano acts in that manner.
"How can I not admire Cristiano? He has skill, but his work has allowed him to compete with Messi and the others. But instances like that do occur at Barcelona and Real Madrid.