Deco has reflected that Andres Iniesta deserve the Ballon d’Or and offered his theory as to Cristiano Ronaldo’s comparisons with Lionel Messi.
Discussion over the next award of the FIFA Ballon d’Or is growing and one former Barcelona player who finished second in the voting in 2004 has put forward the Catalans’ current No 8 for nomination.
“Speaking of Iniesta I think there is only one player who can compare – Zinedine Zidane,” Deco offered to Mundo Deportivo this week.
“Andres is a phenomenon. What happens, though, is that he has Messi, who obstructs from the media with his greatness. But for those of us within the game, Iniesta is brutal.
“Certainly he deserves the Ballon d’Or. The problem is having two animals ahead of him in Leo and Cristiano. It is difficult. Because Cristiano is another beast.”
Deco also considered the continuing duel between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or.
“I do not think that Messi is Cristiano’s obstacle. For me, you have to compare players for their style. For example, Iniesta with Zidane. Or Messi with Maradona. Or Cristiano with the Brazilian Ronaldo.
“But when you compare Messi with Cristiano, the choice will be made on pleasure, for aesthetics.
“Leo is quality, pure magic, Cristiano is the power. So to me they are not comparable. They are players that are totally different. These are discussions that continue in football, but for me are not important.
“The most impressive aspect of Messi and Ronaldo’s greatness is that they are overshadowing huge players like Iniesta, Ibrahimovic and Ribery…”
