'I thought “He’s sold his soul to the devil"': Ex-Portsmouth man on his most talented team-mate - Barcelona's Robert Prosinecki or Manchester United's David Beckham

Yet for the Brazilian, there can be only one winner in a face-off – Prosinecki.

The cultured Croat lit up Fratton Park for the 2001-02 season, making 35 appearances and scoring nine times, including a hat-trick against Barnsley.

It was while with the Blues that he met Miglioranzi and formed a close bond through their friendship with team-mate and Slovenian international winger Mladen Rudonja.

Miglioranzi, who spent more than three years with Pompey, later played in the same LA Galaxy team as Beckham in 2009.

And he is a fine judge to decide who was the better performer.

Miglioranzi told The News: ‘Robert is a unique character, an unbelievable man, and always such a great team-mate.

‘He was by far the best player I had the pleasure of sharing a football pitch with – and I played with Mr David Beckham at LA Galaxy.

‘It’s no mean feat to say that because David was an incredible player too. You saw some of the things David did in training and thought “He’s sold his soul to the devil there’s no way he could do that”.

‘But Robert was just phenomenal. I saw him at the age of 32, when he was at an advanced stage. I cannot imagine what this guy was like at Barcelona or Madrid when he could run!

‘When he came to Pompey no-one could touch him. He’s going to drag the ball back 10 times in front of you and you’re never going to touch him – even though you know exactly what he’s going to do!

‘A few of us often went to the Pizza House Restaurant in Hilsea after a Saturday match and, on one occasion, we were sitting there enjoying our non-alcoholic drinks, with Robert smoking his cigar and drinking an espresso.

‘Then a Pompey fan walks in with his wife for dinner and proceeds to buy a bottle of champagne and send it to our table for Robert.

‘So Robert takes it, we start drinking, and he decides to send three bottles back to the couple at their table.

‘By the end of the night we’re all drinking champagne out of this woman’s boot, it was the most disgusting thing ever! That’s Robert!’

Beckham was in his third season at LA Galaxy when Miglioranzi joined him at the Home Depot Stadium.

The new arrival had already represented Pompey and Swindon in England, before returning to America for a first spell at LA Galaxy and Columbus Crew.

The 45-year-old added: ‘David was a great team-mate, a consummate professional, first in, last out, and it was incredible just how accurate he was with a ball.

‘Kansas City Wizards used to play at this old baseball park before they moved to their new soccer-specific stadium and LA Galaxy were playing there.

‘The night before the match, we trained on the pitch and high up behind one of the grandstands was this billboard of a bull, with one of its eyes cut out.

‘After training, a few of the lads were shooting from the halfway line trying to get the ball through this huge eye. Some were getting close, but all were missing.

‘David was on the other side of the pitch doing an interview and, after finishing, saw what was happening, ran over and grabbed the first ball he could find.

‘He threw it onto the ground and, before it even stopped spinning, hit it through the bull’s eye on the first attempt. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

‘It wasn't a fluke either, he did stuff like that every game.’

MORE: Stefani Miglioranzi: I was wanted by Everton, Liverpool and Bolton – but my heart was set on wonderful Fratton Park

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