AB de Villiers emphatically chooses between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

During a twitter interaction with fans on ICC’s twitter page, where #AskAB was trending for quite a while, a fan asked the South Africa cricket ODI captain who his favourite footballer is – Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. The famously multi-talented cricketer’s response, was ever, direct and straightforward -

“Alright, very easy question for me – my favourite player between Ronaldo and Messi? It’s always been Messi. I just feel that he’s a no-nonsense kind of player, doesn’t fake it out there, is all about his great skill that he has and ability to win games out of nowhere... it’s Lionel Messi”

In case you want to hear it from the horse’s mouth:

.@iamAbdullah342 #AskAB pic.twitter.com/mwjNNDCeGa

— ICC (@ICC) May 30, 2017

The debate between who’s better has seized the world’s imagination for nigh on a decade now with Messi and Ronaldo taking it in turns to dominate each and every ingle major award the world has to offer. There are infact so many arguements to support either side of the arguement that I could list 5 Reasons each for why Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the greatest players of all time and still have some to spare.

You may, or may not agree with the choice – but it has to be said, though, it’s nice to hear the decisiveness in de Villiers’ opinio.n It’s such a refreshing change, this!

AB de Villiers admires his handiwork after smacking another trademark explosive shot

After years of experts, celebrities, and multiple public personalities walking the tightrope and saying generalisms like “both players are equally great”, “to choose would be criminal”, “both have their qualities” and buffeting their choice by lavishing compliments on the other – the no-nonsense South African has just gone on and expressed his views with a candidness and openness that is admirable in this world of PR sanitising political correctness. No such thing with the Protea great.

The cricketer, known for his no-nonsense approach on the cricket field as much for his pure game-changing talent has often been referred to as the Lionel Messi of the cricket world, and it is easy to see why he connects with his fellow sporting great so well. In fact almost everything he said about Messi could so easily be applicable to the great man, himself!