Former Al-Hilal coach Emiliano Diaz, who worked alongside father Ramon at third-placed Al-Hilal and briefly took over as caretaker boss, had first-hand experience of the 38-year-old’s performances in the Middle East and was seemingly not impressed.
Diaz was scathing in his review of Ronaldo’s first six months at Al-Nassr, telling TyC Sports: “He had a hard time, we [Al-Hilal] faced him and had a good time.”
On whether the Portuguese ‘didn’t even touch the ball’ in his appearance against Al-Hilal, Diaz replied: “He had a hard time. With the big clubs he made no difference. He scored three or four goals for the small clubs and I saw that they were talking about him here. He lost the Kings Cup, he lost the Super Cup and the tournament. In Asia he is not going to compete.”
Diaz was then asked about Ronaldo being compared to Lionel Messi and was once again less than kind in the Portuguese’s favour: “No, in no way, not as a footballer. There is no comparison. We have faced him less than three months ago and I went to see Leo at the World Cup.
“We are talking about light years of comparison. There is no comparison but the numbers support him, he is an animal. But at the level of quality of Leo there is no comparison.”
The Ronaldo Messi rivalry may be reignited once more next season as the World Cup winner has been tipped for a Saudi switch after running down his contract with PSG.
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