‘The best of all’ – Eto’o names Brazil legend Ronaldo as only player better than him

The four-time African of the Footballer of the Year expressed his admiration for the Brazil legend, whom he described as the best striker of all time

Samuel Eto’o believes two-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo is the greatest striker of all time.

Ronaldo was renowned for his goalscoring exploits for Brazil and at club level for Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSV, and Inter Milan with hundreds of goals in a professional career that spanned 18 years.

Aside from his success at club level, the 43-year-old won two Fifa World Cups, in 1994 and 2002, and was crowned the Fifa World Player of the Year thrice, while winning the Ballon d'Or in 1997 and 2002.

When quizzed about the best strikers of all time, Eto’o - who claimed to be the greatest African player ever - named the Brazilian legend, fondly nicknamed 'El Fenomeno' - a Portuguese word meaning the Phenomenon.

"The best of all was Ronaldo, 'O Fenomeno',” Eto’o was quoted as saying in a live chat by AS.

“I have such great respect and admiration for him. Then there are a lot of us who come up behind him, and I'd include myself among them.”

The former Barcelona star chose his former teammate and six-time Ballon d’Or Lionel Messi as the best player who is still active while PSG star Kylian Mbappe has been tipped to succeed the Argentine’s dominance in the future.

“The best current players? I'd have to go with Lionel Messi, who's more experienced, and Kylian Mbappe, who's the youngster making the biggest impression,” he said.

“I think he's going to be the chief global star in the years to come."

Before calling time on his 22-year career in September 2019, Eto'o scored a number of goals for Cameroon and his clubs, however, he chose his match-winning goal against Brazil at the 2003 Fifa Confederations Cup as his favourite goal ever.

It was their first win in the tournament and it helped them progress from their group, and they finished the competition as runners-up behind hosts France, after a 1-0 loss in the final.

“My favourite goal was the one I scored against Brazil in the Confederations Cup,” he added.

“It was the first time my mother had come to see a game at the stadium and I was able to say, "Thanks, Mum," with a message written on a T-shirt.”