Brazilian ‘loves’ Manchester United player – Even though he doesn’t ‘have so much quality’

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo became a subject in an interview that former Barcelona player Daniel Alves gave at the end of last week.

The Brazilian fullback had a word with his Pumas teammate Efrain Velarde, who has a Youtube channel, and discussed the relationship he has with the Portuguese star.

Despite the obvious rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Dani Alves admitted the admiration he’s always had for Ronaldo. He also detailed what fed the bad relationship between them previously.

“Particularly, I love Cristiano. Now that we are no longer in Barça vs Madrid, because it always seems that you cannot speak, now that I am no longer there, I can speak. Cristiano exemplifies for all of us, who don’t have that much quality, that with hard work you can also compete against the best. He exemplified this. I respect him a lot, even when I played against him. I had the opportunity to tell him,” said Dani Alves (via Mundo Deportivo).

“This came to a point when I tried to greet him and he didn’t greet me, which caused a controversy once. In a Ballon d’Or, we had a scuffle there, he didn’t greet me, but for what he was generating outside. How can I not respect a guy who has achieved everything based on work? I identify with him. Everything I did in my life was based on that.

“If you were to make a comparison, I, as a player, would be closer to Cristiano than to Leo. I say that it is one more identification with Cristiano because of the work. It was what I did all my life: work to be able to achieve, to get to where I have arrived. It wasn’t pure talent. It was percentage talent, but the biggest thing was the work. And that’s what Cristiano does. He has talent, yes he has talent. But his work is what makes him compete with Messi and anyone else. How can I not respect it? But, of course, at Barça and at Real Madrid that sensitivity is generated.”

Dani Alves and Cristiano Ronaldo had been stars in one of the fiercest rivalries we’ve seen in the past few decades, with them facing each other between 2009 and 2016.

Both players left La Liga for Juventus, and nearly played together at the Old Lady. However, Dani Alves only stayed there for one year, joining in 2016 and leaving in 2017, with Cristiano only making the move to Italy in 2018.

The Brazilian then played for Paris Saint Germain, São Paulo and Barcelona before moving to Pumas this year. Ronaldo, meanwhile, made his return to Manchester United in 2021.