‘He is the best’… Erling Haaland names who he thinks is the greatest player of all time

Redaction Simon Brett with Srinivas Sadhanand
Published on 2024-03-05 15:30:00

Erling Haaland, the Norwegian international, recently expressed his belief that Lionel Messi is the greatest player to ever grace the beautiful game.

As Manchester City prepared to face Copenhagen in the Champions League, Haaland was questioned about whether Messi would need to retire for him to win the Ballon d’Or and FIFA Best awards.

Even before Messi won the Ballon d’Or, pundits like Craig Burley argued that Haaland deserved to win and should go on to become the recipient of the prestigious award. Ian Wright was also puzzled by the decision to award the Best Men’s Player Award to Messi over Haaland.

Micah Richards added to the chorus, stating that Haaland should have received the Best award, especially since Messi’s World Cup triumph in 2022 was not considered in the selection process.

While Haaland didn’t explicitly say that Messi needed to retire for him to win these individual awards, he did acknowledge Messi as the best player to have ever played football.

In a classy response, Haaland refrained from claiming that he deserved the awards over Messi. Instead, he chose to pay respect to Messi, possibly inspired by him growing up and recognizing Messi’s unique status in the game.

“I don’t know. Good question. Yeah, it’s true he won it, he won the World Cup. I don’t know what to say. He is the best that’s ever played, I think. So yeah, I don’t know”, Haaland said [via HaytersTV].

Haaland’s decision to praise Messi instead of getting involved in discussions about award wins reflects his sportsmanship and admiration for one of the greatest players of all time. Despite his own achievements, Haaland continues to show respect for the legendary Messi, highlighting his humility and maturity in the football world.

Read Original article on Manchester City News