The former Manchester United defender has Rio Ferdinand admits Ronaldo finds anything to motivate him to being the best including Gary Lineker rating Messi a better player than Ronaldo.

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“He was an obsessed human in terms of becoming the best,” Ferdinand said on BBC ahead of Portugal’s 2-2 draw with France.

“It’s down to commitment, a little bit of luck genetically as well. But he’s just a phenomenal football player, somebody who thinks of every little detail and aspect of the game to try to get every ounce of ability out of himself.

“It’s not just physically but mentally. His touches have gone down since he was a young kid in 2004, but obviously the touches in the box where he’s going to affect games has gone up.

“That’s not just about your physical prowess and being able to do this and that quicker than anyone else. Or be stronger.

“You’ve got to think about where you are on the pitch as well – and I think he’s done that as well as anybody in terms of evolving as a football player.”

“It’s a great example to young players that he uses negativity as fuel. You [Lineker] said some things like your preference would be Messi out of the two,” Ferdinand explained.

“He will send me a text saying, ‘I can’t believe he said that, I can’t believe he’s done that’. He just uses anything.

“You think, he’s done so much in his life, Why do you care about what anyone says about you? You know you’re the guy!’ It’s the competitive nature. That’s all it is. And you need that.”