Ronaldinho was better than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - Deco

          

Deco has rated Ronaldinho as more talented than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Former Barcelona man Deco played alongside Ronaldinho and Messi at the Camp Nou and alongside Ronaldo with the Portugal national team.

But despite Messi and Ronaldo being widely considered to be the two best players of recent years, something backed up by their eight-year duopoly of the Ballon d'Or, Deco believes Ronaldinho was better than both.

"Ronaldinho was more talented than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo," Deco said in quotes reported by Sport. "When we didn't know what to do, he would create chances to score.

"[Ronaldo] was young, athletic and very competitive. Messi worked hard to do what he does now with the ball for Barca, but what Ronaldinho had was completely natural, he had a special ability. Every time we gave him the ball, he would score a different type of goal."

Ronaldinho, a 1999 Copa America and 2002 World Cup winner with Brazil, won the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

He also won two league titles and the 2006 Champions League with Barcelona, and played for clubs including Gremio, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, where he won the 2010-11 Serie A title.