Michel Platini Named His 4 Greatest Footballers of All Time - Snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo

 Michel Platini is potentially one of the most underrated players in football history, especially with his constant exclusion from conversations about the greatest footballers ever. After all, the Frenchman did lift the prestigious Ballon d'Or award three times - an unprecedented achievement for a midfielder.

While he is unfairly excluded from the GOAT debate, nothing is stopping Platini from sharing his own view on the ongoing discussion. Some like the old-fashioned flair of South American greats Pele and Diego Maradona, while others pit two modern-day greats, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, against each other.

It's an almost impossible task to narrow down the greatest in football history to only one player, given the vast number of world-class stars who have graced the hallowed turf over the years. Platini instead opted to give a talented quartet their flowers.

Michel Platini Omits Cristiano Ronaldo From GOAT Debate

"People always ask me about Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo"

In an interview with World Soccer all the way back in 2011, Platini was posed the question about whether Messi was the greatest player to have ever lived. The Argentine was still in the first half of his glistening career, which has seen him win every club trophy as well as eight Ballon d'Or awards. The retired France international said:

"Lionel Messi is a diamond. But every generation believes it has the best hero. Pele was considered the best in the 1950s and 1960s; Johan Cruyff was supposed to be the best in the 1970s; Zinedine Zidane in the 2000s."

Messi was still only 24 years old at the time of Platini's comparison to other greats of different generations. Pele was hailed as the best player of the 1950s and 60s, Johan Cruyff the most gifted of the 1970s, and Zinedine Zidane the pick of the bunch in the 2000s.

The now-legendary debate between Messi and Ronaldo was taking off in 2011, and the Euro 1984 hero had praise for both men: "People always ask me about Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are two equally brilliant players but with different styles."

However, he still didn't include the top goalscorer in football history among the greats of the game. Platini again failed to mention Ronaldo, who was smashing goalscoring records at Real Madrid at the time, as he continued:

I’m not going to compare Messi with great players from those times. Every generation has had the best player of all time. Cruyff in the 1970s, Pele in the 1950s and 1960s, then Zidane in the 2000s.

"Nowadays it’s Messi. I would say that he has one advantage compared with the others in that he is much better protected by referees – which is as it should be. He can play his football and express his ability. In the past players had to think first about avoiding being kicked."