Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti refused to consider Lionel Messi, the French Saint-Germain player, the best in the history of football, after he succeeded in leading his country to the World Cup, which was held in the State of Qatar, for the third time in its history.
Messi added the most expensive title that lacks his coffers full of personal and collective titles and coronations, along with 7 golden balls as the best player in the world, which made many describe him as the best ever, outperforming legends of the value of his compatriot Diego Armando Maradona and the Brazilian Pele, along with his first rival, Portuguese Cristiano. Ronaldo.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, presents Messi with the Arab Bisht after Argentina won the World Cup (agencies)
In the press conference held Thursday, before the team's first appearance in the league against Valladolid, which was held at the club's training center in "Valdebebas", a journalist asked a question: Is Messi the best player in history?
Ancelotti responded in his own way, but without evading the answer.
Ancelotti said, "It is difficult to decide on this matter, I do not know if he is the best in history or not, it is not fair to say that, because every era includes very good players."
Then he added, "Messi is the best in history? I will not say this. I have enjoyed many good players. I train a player who won the Golden Ball every day, and I have seen Cruyff and Maradona play as well."
Did he receive an offer to coach Brazil?
In addition to Zinedine Zidane, many Brazilian and European press reports talked about the Brazilian Football Confederation's development of the name of the current coach of Real Madrid in order to supervise the "Samba" team, to succeed the coach of the late "Tite".
This media meeting was an opportunity for the media professionals to resolve matters through the words of the concerned person.
🚨Gazeta Esportiva:
CBF will make an offer to Ancelotti if he confirms interest in the role.
CBF would be willing to wait until June to hire him.
Ramon Menezes (Brazil U20) would take over as the interim manager.
If there is no agreement, Brazil would target Fernando Diniz.
pic.twitter.com/vHYGKHKlb6
- Brasil Football 🇧🇷 (@BrasilEdition) December 14, 2022
As usual, Ancelotti was frank in his response, and said in this regard, "If they really wanted to, they would contact me, (but) they did not do that, but I really appreciate this interest if it is real."
He added, "My situation is clear, I am still here, I will never tell Madrid that this adventure is over."
What about Real Madrid?
After about 45 days of hiatus, this meeting was also an occasion for the Italian coach to talk about the state of his team and its readiness for the next competitions, whether local or continental.
Regarding the group's readiness, Ancelotti said, "We are fine. We have got Karim Benzema back and he is in good shape, and it was very important to us. Those who spent vacations also returned in the best conditions, but I will give priority to the players who were with us here."
However, Ancelotti acknowledged the difficulty of what awaits the “Merengue” due to the crowded schedules and its strength, and said in this regard, “It is very complicated. We have the Spanish Super Cup and the Club World Cup, until March we have many matches and we have to make a personal assessment of each player.”
And he stressed the need to provide "good conditions for the players. It was necessary to rest the World Cup players, because there will be no room for them to rest. Until February 19, we will play a match every 3 days."
On the issue of the star of the first team, Benzema, Ancelotti praised the physical readiness of this player, and said that he was fully prepared to highlight his capabilities.
The former Milan coach said, "He finally returned from vacation and seemed very healthy. He worked with the group and participated in two friendlies, 30 and then 45 minutes. I think he will show all his abilities."