‘The sky is the limit. Now fly, my boy’: Ronaldo heaps praise on Neymar as he congratulates PSG star for overhauling him into second place behind Pele in Brazil’s all-time scoring charts
- Neymar scored a hat-trick on Tuesday night as Brazil thrashed Peru
- Treble took the PSG star past Ronaldo in the goalscoring charts for his country
- Former Real Madrid striker has heaped praise on Neymar for going behind Pele
Ronaldo has heaped praise on Neymar after he passed him into second place in Brazil‘s goalscoring charts and believes he has many records left to break in the game.
Neymar scored a hat-trick on Tuesday night to inspire the Selecao to victory over Peru in their World Cup qualifier in Lima.
He is now behind only the great Pele in Brazil’s scoring charts, and at 28 looks destined to overtake his country’s greatest ever player.
Neymar celebrates after netting his hat-trick for Brazil against Peru on Tuesday night
Ronaldo took to Instagram to heap praise on Neymar moving second in Brazil’s scoring charts
Taking to Instagram, Ronaldo wrote: ‘You have all my respect, Neymar. You play a lot, you give assists, you pass, you dribble and you score.
‘The sky is the limit. Now fly, my boy. What a beautiful story you are writing. A complete and increasingly mature player. Star.’
Ronaldo also acknowledged the pressures that come with representing the five-time World Cup winners, writing: ‘I know how heavy the yellow jersey is and dealing with pressure off the field is sometimes a bigger challenge than carrying the ball at your feet.
‘Now tell me: where did we come from, where are we going … who is going to tell us what is impossible?
Neymar has moved past Ronaldo, who now drops down to third in the rankings
Neymar now needs only 13 more goals to draw level with the great Pele in the rankings
‘Trust your instincts because the talent is yours and nobody can pull you down. You have many records to break and many marks to leave. Proud to see a Brazilian at the top.’
The PSG striker now has 64 goals, two more than Ronaldo and 13 behind Pele, who heads the list with 77.
Brazil coach Tite was reluctant to compare his current star with past greats.
‘It’s unfair making comparisons,’ he said. ‘What I can say is Neymar has this unpredictability. He is the bow and the arrow, he’s a player who both makes and takes chances. And he gets better and better, and more mature.’
On Tuesday, Neymar equalled and then passed Ronaldo with two penalties either side of half-time before grabbing No 64 in injury time at Lima’s National stadium.