Deco carved out a fantastic football career on the field. In recent years, he has also built a strong reputation behind the scenes. This comes from his experience as a sporting director for Barcelona. The former Portuguese international recently sat down for an interview with ‘Lance!’. During their chat, he placed Portugal among the top teams to win the 2026 World Cup. He also had some incredibly high praise for Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I haven’t spent a lot of time with him lately,” Deco explained. “But Cristiano was always an example of wanting to get better. He never settled for just enough. That’s not easy to do. This desire to improve, to grow… To truly try and get better at something you already think you’re good at, you have to be humble. He is the most humble person I have ever seen. He was the only one who truly wanted to improve every single day.”
Deco added that Ronaldo recognized what he wasn’t good at. He then worked hard to improve those areas. “It’s a rare ability, a competitive mindset that’s out of this world. It’s easy to do that for one or two years. But to do it for 20 years? That’s almost impossible. Portugal looks strong because they have a very good team. And they have Cristiano, who inspires all the other players,” Deco stated.
Deco, who played for clubs like FC Porto, Barcelona, Chelsea, and Fluminense, shared the locker room with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. So, it was natural for him to talk about football’s most famous comparison. “Their personalities are different,” Deco noted. “But what they share is that they are both geniuses, just in different ways. These men stayed at the highest level for over 15 years. That’s not normal; it’s truly exceptional.”
He went on to say that it’s more than just being good or winning titles. “Playing at that level for so many years is something very few people achieve in sports, generally speaking. Cristiano and Messi are geniuses. They are men with a mental strength above everyone else. When you motivate yourself for 15 years straight to do the same thing, just because it’s your job, just because you’re an athlete, that’s something different. They are people with truly extraordinary mental ability. That’s their main similarity. They have this knack for reinventing themselves every single year. The story of their careers is all about overcoming challenges.”
Regarding the 2026 World Cup, Deco believes Portugal can certainly win the title. “I think Portugal is one of the favorites,” he declared. “It’s a very strong generation of players. They have players who are performing at a very high level. It comes down to finding the right balance for the coach, but I see Portugal as very powerful. And Cristiano fits perfectly with what Portugal needs. When you talk about motivation, dedication, and ambition… Cristiano is the greatest of all in that sense. As far as it depends on him, he will be in top form.”