David Seaman says Ronaldo is the best he has ever played against in his illustrious career.
The legendary former goalkeeper has come up against several star names, having featured in the World Cup, European Championships, Premier League and Champions League as the No.1 in the England and Arsenal.
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From Manchester United magician David Beckham to Brazilian legend Rivaldo, the 22-year-old Seaman’s career has been peppered with superstar opponents, while he has also played with the best, Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer as well as Becks.
One man stands out, however – and no, despite that Ronaldinho’s free kick during the 2002 World Cup, it was his former Brazilian teammate who won the crown.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Seaman said: “The best I played against was Ronaldo, the Brazilian.
“He was brilliant. Obviously he was a striker and he was doing different things all the time.
“He was unpredictable. You didn’t know what he was going to do. Was he going to chip it? Place it? Stomp it?”
Seaman was blown away by how far Ronaldo’s game was compared to the other attackers he faced.
He continued: “He had everything in the game and he was doing it at the time.
“I’ve been retired for about 20 years and he was also retired ten years before that.”
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Ronaldo was part of Real Madrid’s Galacticos era in the early 2000s, which included big signings like Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos and Beckham.
As well as winning the Ballon d’Or in 1997 and 2002 while at Inter Milan and then Real Madrid and winning numerous domestic trophies, Ronaldo also won the World Cup in 1994 and 2002.
He inspired the next generation of strikers, including AC Milan legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic and former England captain Wayne Rooney, who took the European scene by storm when he left Brazil’s Cruzeiro in 1994 to join PSV when he was a teenager.
Barcelona signed him in 1996 and in his only season there he scored 34 times in 37 league matches before Inter signed him a season later. There, in Serie A – one of the toughest leagues for strikers to score on – he found the net 59 times in 99 games. “When we were training, we practically stopped to watch him. It was extraordinary,” teammate Yuri Djorkaef once said.
At Real, who landed him in 2002, he continued to amaze players and fans alike and once received a standing ovation for his hat-trick against Manchester United in the 2003 Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Seaman had to face the legendary striker twice. The first during the 1997 French Tournament and the second during the 2-1 defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.
Despite calling him the best player he faced, Seaman managed to keep Ronaldo at bay every time.
In 2011, goalkeepers and defenders around the world breathed a sigh of relief when he hung up his boots, finishing his career at Corinthians with 414 goals to his name.
Seaman was speaking to talkSPORT.com as part of Football Shirt Friday, where he recalled his first impressions of the ‘Fruit Pastilles’ kit from Euro 96…
