'I was sacked as Cristiano Ronaldo's manager – this is my stance on Lionel Messi debate'

Luis Castro worked with Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia and has now been able to reveal his true thoughts on the football icon after being handed his marching orders last month

Ex-Al Nassr manager Luis Castro has lauded Cristiano Ronaldo and argued his "constant desire" ranks him above Lionel Messi.

Landing in Saudi Arabia in July 2023 to take over from former boss Rudi Garcia and command Pro League headliner Ronaldo, Castro's tenure began swimmingly as he rapidly claimed the Arab Club Champions Cup just one month into the role.

However, he couldn't keep said momentum going after a King's Cup final loss to Al-Hilal and a string of subpar performances at the start of this new season, leading to his dismissal last month.

Working closely with Ronaldo gave Castro insight into what makes the Portuguese icon tick, and the 63-year-old has now described the superstar and his tireless ethos as "the best".

"Cristiano was, is and will be determined to be the best," Castro told Marca. "You can see it every day in every training session. He has a constant desire to play, to break records, to score the most beautiful goals.

"When you are close to him, you understand why he is a phenomenon. He continues to be decisive in everything he does. He knows that football has given him almost everything and he has great love for it."

Under Castro, Ronaldo bagged an unprecedented 35 league goals last season, setting a record as the first player to clinch domestic Golden Boot honours in four different nations.

Last month, at 39 years young, he bagged his 900th career goal in Portugal's 2-1 Nations League victory against Croatia, and Castro has thrown his support behind Ronaldo to reach the illustrious 1,000-goal milestone.

"Will he reach 1,000 goals? It won't depend on him, but on the context," Castro added. "We tried to get the most out of Cris, and we got him to finish 2023 as the top scorer of the year (54 goals). I hope he has a favourable environment around him and surpasses the 1,000-goal mark."

Castro was also hugely complimentary of the great Portuguese forward’s work ethic during his time in charge of Al-Nassr, saying in 2023: “He [Ronaldo] is the world's greatest example of success in terms of rigour, work and discipline.

“Do you think he needs me to make demands of him? No. You don't need to demand anything from Cristiano; he does it himself. He gives rigour, discipline, maximum demand, wanting to always win, wanting to shine before the world.”

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