Rio Ferdinand reveals a regret when he discusses Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Rio Ferdinand has played with some of the best football players in the world during his brilliant career.

But the former defender of Manchester United and England admits that he has a regret: never play alongside Lionel Messi.

Ferdinand shared several memorable years with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United before he left for Real Madrid.

But his only matches on the same court as Messi involve the headache of scoring the Argentine superstar in the big games of the Champions League.

Ferdinand admits that he would like to share such a boast with his former teammate in the United States, Gerard Pique, by calling the two teammates of all time.

"I played with Ronaldo, I did not play with Messi," Ferdinand said.

"I would have liked to play with him too." Being able to play with two of the best players of all time would have been great to be able to say that.

"Pique did that, it's a lucky man.

"I would have liked to say that I would play with both."

Only a few selected players could call the two teammates. Spades and former Manchester United boss Henrik Larsson are the only two to have played alongside the iconic duo at the club level.

Former Manchester United stars Gabriel Heinze and Carlos Tevez, who played with Ferdinand and Ronaldo at Old Trafford, share this honor, but have played with Messi only internationally with Argentina. .