Those were years of great rivalry. On the one hand FC Barcelona with superstar Lionel Messi. On the other side Real Madrid with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Two incredible teams in contention for the Spanish and European crowns.
Dani Alves (39) was under contract with the Catalans at the time, was champion six times with the Blaugrana and won the Champions League three times. In the podcast of Mexican soccer player Efrain Velarde (“Casa Velarde”), the Brazilian talks about the rivalry – and about an incident at a Ballon d’Or gala when he clashed with Ronaldo.
Mr. Oblivious
Dream gate enchants the whole village square
Quelle: twitter@DSAwarenessFc
Dani Alves says: “It was the time of the big rivalry (between Barça and Real). I walked over to greet him. But he didn’t greet me. There was an argument that never came out, but in fact we got into a scuffle in a dressing room at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.”
Alves, 39, who now plays for Mexican club UNAM Pumas (along with Velarde), has long since settled differences with Ronaldo. He says: “I love Cristiano. Now that we’re not Barcelona and Real Madrid players anymore, I can say it because when we were, I couldn’t.”
Alves continued: “Cristiano is a role model, for all of us, the best role model there is. Cristiano is a role model for all of us who don’t have that much quality that with hard work you can even compete with the very best. I respect him very much and I had the opportunity to tell him that in person.”
When asked whether he can identify more with his longtime ex-colleague Lionel Messi (35) or with today’s Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo (37), Alves has a clear answer: “Personally, I can relate more to Ronaldo identify, because everything in my life was also based on hard work. If I had to make a comparison as a player, I would be much closer to Ronaldo than Leo (Messi) because of work. Leo, on the other hand, is a natural. He was born with the talent to play football in a different dimension that only he can achieve.”
