Barcelona

Eto’o Rates Messi Above Ronaldo

Barcelona hot-shot Samuel Eto’o has joined in the debate to determine who the best player in the world is at present and the Cameroonian had little hesitation in choosing teammate, Lionel Messi.

Nov 18, 2008 7:14:45 AM

Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi, Barcelona-Betis (Marca)

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Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi, Barcelona-Betis (Marca)

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As the race for the Ballon d’Or heats up, influential players as well as coaches are starting to sway worldwide journalists’ decision on who to vote for come December.

It appears to be a two-horse race at present between Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and each player have received either glowing endorsements or rave reviews over the past few months.

And Barça striker Samuel Eto’o has now thrown in his two cents’ worth by backing his Argentine goalscoring accomplice at the Camp Nou.

“Cristiano (Ronaldo) is a great player, but Messi is above everybody at the moment,” he told French television channel, TF1.

“He does things not just in training but during matches that no one has ever done before.

“He is the new Maradona. He is a player who makes other people dream of playing like him,” he added.

Eto’o then analyzed Barcelona’s current playing system under coach, Pep Guardiola, which seems to be brining enormous success.

“Our present system isn’t all that different from the one last season. It’s still a 4-3-3 formation but in reality, it looks more like the system developed by (Johan) Cryuff’s Dream Team,” the 27 year old explained.

Barcelona currently sit atop the La Liga standings on 28 points after 11 rounds, with a massive 36 goals scored, 21 of which are shared between Eto’o and Messi.

KS Leong