In a recent interview with Marca, Brazilian icon Ronaldinho reflected on Neymar's role with the Brazil National Team and concluded, "Without doubt, Neymar is already my heir."
"He is performing in that role and he has been for many years," Ronaldinho said. "He is a great player and he will be the face of Brazil for plenty of seasons to come."
These comments came during a conversation in which Ronaldinho reflected on the role he played early in the career of another current Barcelona legend, Messi. Asked about his role as a mentor for Messi, Ronaldinho modestly declined to take credit for any of Leo's development and meteoric rise:
"I was never Messi's master. I was lucky and happy enough to be part of the start of his career. Neymar arrived at Barcelona with many years' experience under his belt from his time at Santos, although Messi has of course been helping him a lot in terms of his settling-in."
Reflecting on the possibility of either Neymar or Messi winning this year's Ballon d'Or versus rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the older Brazilian said simply,
"Any of the three is worthy of winning with the year they had...Messi, Cristiano and Neymar have been outstanding for their clubs and they all can win it."
(H/T Marca.com)
