'I hope people realise how good Cristiano Ronaldo is, because of the intelligence he has,' Carlos said.

Madrid: Real Madrid's former star left-back Roberto Carlos said the player currently in his position, Marcelo Vieira, was the best in the world.

Carlos played for Real Madrid between 1996 and 2007 and became the world champion with Brazil in 2002.

"Marcelo is the best in the world, making football more real. Technically he is better (than I was). I was more power and punch," Roberto Carlos said at an event here on Wednesday which he attended in his capacity as the club's current ambassador in Asia, according to an Efe report.

He declared Marcelo the best left-sided defender in the world, adding that he was making history with Los Blancos.

He also heaped praise on Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He is a very intelligent player. He knows that sometimes he has to help Karim Benzema and others to score. Nowadays he is the best in the world, there are games in which he doesn't score, but he is looking for space because he's a reference point," Carlos said.

"I hope people realise how good Cristiano is, because of the intelligence he has," he added.