Legendary football player, Ronaldo de Lima, believes that young Brazilian star, Neymar, can grow to be much better than Lionel Messi. Ronaldo assess the Barcelona football star had indeed successfully won the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the third time although he is only 24 years old. However, Neymar, he says, had accomplished great things in 19 years of age after winning  the 2011 FIFA Puskas Award.

Messi and Neymar both received awards in the Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich on Monday (01/09/2012). If Messi won the award for best footballer in the world with his award, the young Santos player won an award for his fantastic goal against Flamengo.

Ronaldo is confident that this experience can bring Neymar to grow better than Messi in the future.

“Neymar not only can match Messi, he can become better. His talent is to remarkable to only play in Brazil,” he said, according to The Sun.

Ronaldo, who decided to retire in February last year, said Neymar’s exceptional talent should continue to be developed by giving him the opportunity to play outside Brazil. Europe, he added, could be the right choice.

“He is a talented player that can be sent to play outside of Brazil and this will allow him to rule the world, to play what he wants to do. Pride and competition in European football has become massive,” added the player who played in the Dutch, Italian and Spanish league.

Previously, Chelsea and Real Madrid reportedly have expressed interest in Neymar. But so far, the player who has played for the Brazilian national team still refused the offers.