Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alan Brazil: Neymar is ready to surpass Messi and Ronaldo to become the best player in the world

Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (L-R) (Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)
Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (L-R) (Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi have dominated the “best player in the world” debate for years.

But if Ronaldo leads Portugal to Euro 2016 glory tonight, it could trigger a changing of the guard.

Don’t get me wrong. Whatever happens in Paris, neither player is going to drop off the face of the planet.

Aged 31, Ronaldo looks like he has plenty of good years left in him.

Messi, who is just 29, is in the same boat.

But after Barcelona star Leo’s retiral from international football, I reckon Ronaldo could follow suit if Portugal do the business tonight.

Whether they will or not is another thing altogether. But let’s just imagine for a second that they find it within themselves.

For the Real Madrid man, it would be a new high point in a glittering career, the taste of international success he has always craved.

The Portuguese icon has a colossal ego. There’s no getting away from that.

Bowing out of international football after helping his country to its first major honour would appeal to him, especially since Messi hasn’t managed it with Argentina.

And if Ronaldo clears off ahead of the World Cup in 2018, the stage will be set for a new leading man to claim the limelight.

For most neutrals, me included, Messi will always come out on top against Ronaldo.

The latter’s critics – and there are plenty – reckon his attitude goes against him.

By contrast, the Argentine ace has been squeaky-clean on the field.

His conviction in Spain for tax fraud last week has hinted that all may not be quite as it seems behind the scenes

Along with Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the Final of the Copa America, it must have played a big part in his decision to concentrate on club football.

And with Ronaldo on the brink of the greatest achievement of his own career, it looks like their long-running personal battle could be about to start winding down.

So is anybody ready to step up to their level? The truth is I’m not convinced there is.

Gareth Bale is a world-class player. He has proved that for Real Madrid and for Wales at the Euros.

At 26 years old, there is still room for improvement, and he will be well in the fight for Ballons d’Or in years to come.

But can he emulate Messi and Ronaldo? I don’t think so.

Can Luis Suarez? Can Robert Lewandowski? Can Sergio Aguero? No chance.

For me, the only current player with worldwide profile who has the potential to join Ronaldo and Messi as one of the all-time greats is Neymar.

He’s skilful, he’s deadly, he’s increasingly street smart and he’s still only 24.

I think he’s good enough to be Barcelona’s post-Messi talisman when the time comes.

I think he’s good enough to lead his country to World Cup glory in two years, in six years, and maybe even in both.

Time will tell on that front, but the history books have already been written for Messi and Ronaldo.

Both have been at it for years, both will continue for years to come. They have earned their place at football’s top table.

Nothing, not even defeat tonight for Cristiano and Portugal, will change that.


READ MORE

Alan Brazil: Rangers and Celtic ready to do battle over Liverpool kids

Alan Brazil: Kenny Dalglish more than deserves a knighthood