Former Manchester United and France defender Mikael Silvestre has heaped praise on Brazil striker Ronaldo, saying he was unstoppable during his playing days.

Silvestre has played with — and against — some of the world’s greatest players, including Brazilian Ronaldo, who the defender played alongside at Inter Milan.

Advertisement

“He was unstoppable,” Silvestre was quoted as saying by Manchester United’s official website, manutd.com.

Silvestre said he has played alongside Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and against Argentine genius Lionel Messi, but in terms of speed, Brazilian Ronaldo was something else.

“You called him ‘El Fenomeno’ then. I played against Messi and I played with Cristiano at Manchester United, but he (Ronaldo) is something else in terms of speed.

“Everything is top level. Cristiano, maybe you can guess that he has three or four tricks he would use most of the time, but Ronnie, it was always something different.”

Silvestre said Brazilian Ronaldo could score a goal from any type of position on the football pitch.

“He was inventing things on the spot, so you can’t guide him left or right because he’s going to get out of these situations, no matter what. He could score from any type of position. He was playing on one leg at some points and was still beating defenders all over Europe.”

Silvestre also had a stint with Indian Super League (ISL) side Chennaiyin FC in 2014.