Lionel Messi: Better than Pele

tweetter 2 years ago

Messi better than Pele?? :-)) lol! He is legend mann!! You can say Messi better than Maradona.

yousif 2 years ago

hey i hear this misunderstanding between Pele and messi, first of all Pele had not played to Europe because the former president of Brazil had not wished Pele to play in Europe, and by the way what makes you think Pele is not better than messi or maradonna,it is because Pele never played in the top European leagues and messi plays in better league. listen very well you do not you are talking about Pele played in a time where there were no yellow cards or red cards, even they were a thousand of ways to stop since the 1970. Pele played in a time where the ball was heavier and slighter and the curve were to difficult then now days. listen very carefully by the way how did Europe club became famous because of the south American soccer players, start saying something more reasonable than giving false information people don't understand they act before they think, you should think before you act.

kepke90 2 years ago

Messi is better than Maradona, and Maradona is better than Pele so :) Messi is better than Pele ;) for the time Pele was played, the football was not professional as in these days. The defense was far worse and the tactic was also less important. The players didn't have training 2 times per day and their stamina was pretty weak compared to todays professional football players... Pele was extraordinary thats true, but with that competition... Also he never won European Champions Cup, the best football competition in the world, unlike Maradona (Napoli) and Leo Messi (Barcelona)...

dannywoodpx 2 years ago

yeah...i agree...Messi is the best player ever...better then all past legends...

alex lee 23 months ago

Very well written! I think the reason Maradona and Pele are classed as "the best ever" is because they where so far ahead of the competition where as messi is still much better but isnt quite as far as Pele or Maradona was. In truth messi is the best player of all time based on ability speed etc but he isnt as far advanced as Maradona or Pele.

Just a quick note too Pele needs to get a grip he keeps going on about all these young Brazillian players who will be the best ever yet they never perform. He also thinks Messi will never be the best as he will never score 1000 goals and as you have stated Pele played in a poor league in truth with a national team who could win with out him. Maradona dragged Argentina to the world cup win by himself and in Maradonas word "messi is better than i was".

Tobi Lawal 22 months ago

i was very happy when rooney came to manutd because ronaldo and rooney were communicating more than any player in the world i will love rooney to win the 2011 best player in the world for manutd my best player is rooney then lionl messi to me rooney,messi and ronaldo are not to be compared with pele pele wasnt that good to me messi,rooney,ronaldo are far 100times better than him

Tobi Lawal 22 months ago

i was very happy when rooney came to manutd because ronaldo and rooney were communicating more than any player in the world i will love rooney to win the 2011 best player in the world for manutd my best player is rooney then lionl messi to me rooney,messi and ronaldo are not to be compared with pele pele wasnt that good to me messi,rooney,ronaldo are far 100times better than him

samman 22 months ago

I think it is difficult and also somewhat unfair to compare past legends with today's stars. We can compare Messi with Rooney, Ronaldo etc. but not with Pele or Maradona. Messi is if not the best, one of the best players we have today. But to compare him with Pele or Maradona, we have wait few more years and see whether he can keep his form and help his club and country to win titles.

Info Bucket 22 months ago

I don't agree with you premierkj, coz pele' is a legend man. We saw the play of Messi in this world cup, can't finish the ball into the goal like pele.

GlobalUnderstanding 19 months ago

Maradona was a good player but have always been a Maradroga outside the field. No one can like that arrogant junkey who destroys any team he enters as a coach... even in Argentina he is only liked by communists who never ever watched him play... Messi is and always will be considered the best in the world followed by Ronaldinho (who played great during his era).

henokjose@yahoo.co.uk 17 months ago

messi better than pele not Maradona ever.

drogbe 14 months ago

pele the best ever..

Gabo 13 months ago

Instead of comparing Messi to players from the past who just talk loads of crap (pele) I think its more difficult to compare messi to the greats of the last 15 years rather than the last 40. I speak of Ronaldo(brazil), Zidane, and Ronaldinho. I saw all these guys play in their prime and saw some amazing things that messi cant even do. Messi has been nurtured by barca since he was a boy but ronaldo on the other hand took Europe by storm on his own by 19 as a poor teenager from brazil(i kno he arrived from psv). In my opinion Ronaldo is the greatest player i have ever seen in terms of technical, physical, shooting, and skills. Maybe you didnt have the chance of watching O fenomeno in his prime of the late 90's early 00's and only judge him on the shadow of himself in madrid which was still pretty damn good! Zidane was great, and to this day Ronaldinho is my favorite player of all time, i think he could have been the G.O.A.T but bad decisions led to his early downfall. I dont take anything away from messi because he's great but i think you should watch more videos of the three great players i named before instead of pele and maradona who are just known for their big mouths and as cheats.

Vaglsng 13 months ago

In fact I consider Messi inferior to players like Zidane and Maradona. Because of the way of playing for Barcelona. I think we should pay attention to it.

Out of Barça, Messi simply did not shine. Examples: World Cup 2006 and 2010, American Cup 07 and World Cup qualifiers.

There are no ways to compare to Pele, who won 3 World Cups and shone like no other star in his time.

As the quality of defenders who faced Pele, you are wrong in saying that their quality was questionable. He met players like Beckenbauer and goalkeeper Yashin, faced the biggest Brazilian defenders of all time, as Luis Pereira, for example. If today we see great Brazilian players playing in the biggest clubs in the world, you imagine a time when they all worked in the same scenario. So you conceive a little of the extent of what was Pelé.

Vaglsng 13 months ago

ok, great Hub, but it makes no sense to say that Barcelona functions because of Messi and Argentina did not. If Messi is as good as to make the Barcelona play, why he is not able to do the same with his selection? I insist on what I said before: For Messi is set at a level above what is (below other players like Zidane, Ronaldo and Maradona), has to shine in a sphere bigger than Barcelona. Hug.

will 13 months ago

I think there's one aspect everyone have not considered. Maradonna and Pele where strikers by nature and really it was their job to get goals for their teams. where as Messi is a wide player/winger who drifts inside and scores just as many and creates far more than the other two legend. Saying that I don't think Messi is the greatest just yet cause his still young and have to perform at the level his performing now for few more ways on a consistence basis. If he stays injury free, there is no doubt he'll be the greatest. great article by the way.

FOD 13 months ago

For starters the game has changed a lot since pele and maradona played. i can name several players who have records of almost as many goals as games which is a testoment to the fact that goals used to be a little easier to come by. Clough, Dixie Dean, Peyroteo, Ferenc Deak, Puskus. Theres absolutely loads. Try getting a list together like that of modern footballers and you'll struggle. The trouble with Pele and Maradona is its the world cup that made them famous and lets face it, these days much as its the ultimate prize, its not the highest standard, thats the champs league. barcelona would beat spain any day. The thing about messi is not just his goalscoring record (130 in 147 games last 3 seasons), but his assists (50). To do this in the modern game is unparrallelled.

but before we start saying he's better than pele or maradona you have to say you can only beat whats in front of you, and pele and maradona beat them all. maradona won a world cup by himself. Pele won 2 world cups, plus technically 1 more.

I'm sure if pele and maradona were playing today they would be battling it out with messi as the best 3 players in the world. who's the best? all different. Pele is a striker, brilliant in the air. Maradona a creative forward who can play in midfield. dominates games and never loses possession. messi a goal scorer and creator. For me they can all play in the same team, no need to pick one.

only thing that kills your argument is bringing rooney in to the mix. i know you wrote this a year ago when rooney was in his pomp, but still, one good spell doesn't mean you mention him in discussions such as this.

olamide 13 months ago

Nice piece from you, i had always followed every piece of historical football visuals i could lay my hands on about pele and maradona and i've come to the conclusion that maradona is better than pele, on coming to see messi play in this era of very competitive,tactically and technically efficient football players, and still been able to mesmerize and do what he does is awesome and extraordinary. I believe messi is the best ever football player the world has ever seen.

The era when pele was playing, goals were scored with ease i.e artur friedrich(1372 goals)a brazilian who played in brazilian league and scored goals more than pele's (1280goals). My point is goals were scored easily then than now,so we cant base the analytical factors mostly on goals and i can mention players with similar attributes as pele mostly from brazil i.e romario,ronaldo,rivaldo,ronaldinho,robinho just to name a few who if they had played only in the brazilian league i bet would had surpass the goal scoring record of pele. If pele and maradona were to play in the same era as messi, messi will surely and unequivocally overshadow them all. ALL HAIL KING ''MESSI''

gary 13 months ago

In Napoli he only had Alemao, Careca and Ferrara and the rest of the players were average so he would have done great at any team. His passing and dribbling are what made him memorable, so if you look at any player in the prem that can dribble like Giggs, Ronaldo and Henry they usually do pretty well. Maradona played as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Not putting down English defenders but he played in Italy where the defences he played aginst are now legendary. He played against Baresi, Bergomi, Breme, a young Maldini and a load of other great defenders and he won 2 scudetti with Napoli when there was no match for the serie A around the world. He played against the Milan of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rikjaard, Franco Baresi, Donadoni, Maldini etc.. The Inter of Matthaus, Breme, Klinsman, Bergomi etc.. All of these were the best of their time and Maradona was one notch higher level wise than all of these players.

Maradona would have done fantastic in any league at any time.

He won the 86 world cup virtually on his own. In Italia 90 they were robbed by that referee, if they weren't they would have won it again with Maradona being the most dominant player in the tournament and some great goal keeping by Goycochea. In Italia 90 he had a moment of brilliance when he passed a wonderful ball to Caniggia to knock out Brasil. In 1994 he got thrown out of the tournament for using ephedra or something like that and again Argentina were poised to win the world cup. Argentina were beaten by Romania and we were introduced to the first player hailed as the new Maradona, Ariel "el burrito" Ortega.

He was one level higher than Cruyff, Mattheus, Zidane.

The reason Maradona is regarded as the best player in the world is because he never had a team with so many stars as messi.

bdbudda 10 months ago

Title of the article is Lionel Messi: Better than Pele, if you making the case that he is the greatest player ever I think you should have titled the article Lionel Messi: Better than Maradona. First world cup I can remember was '86 and he was just amazing, he was my first sporting hero. Still would rate Maradona as the best ever,still too early to rate Messi as good as him. Pele won a world cup's surrounded by stars and as you say he never proved himself in Europe. Maradona dragged an average Argentine team to victory on his own then 4 years later he dragged them back to another World cup final (remember watching Brazil dominating a match against Argentina in the knock out stages only for Maradona late on to go on a great run to set up the winning goal late on). He went to Napoli and again dragged them to win the league twice, the only times in history a southern Italian mainland team has won it. Before Maradona arrived they had been involved in a relegation battle. When he left Napoli again they declined completly. Also Maradona operated in a far harder environment with a different rule book where defenders spent time kicking the crap out of him, Maradona would be even more effective had he been playing today and Messi would have found it much tougher to operate back then then he dose now. You say 'Maradona is remembered most for his wonder goal against England but Messi has scored a number of goals like it.', Maradona scored many similar goals to that one including a very similar one against Belgium in the same world cup in the next game. Even in his famous hand of god goal in the build up he showed great skill. Another huge advantage Messi has over Maradona is that Messi playing with Barca is surrounded by many of the worlds best players Maradona did not have as good of players around him.

Zaidy 10 months ago

Messi is the best player ever witnessed.. This is a great article.. Pele onli played in brazil making it much easier for him.. He played against guys that weren't really proffessional footballers.. Guys that had jobs your everyday barber, cleaner ,grass cutter ect.. Rooney shouldn even be compared to messi bcos rooney isn have as good.. Every year Droba beats him in the EPL. With goals and assit's the english over rate there players and force there names into the elite.. I record messi every game.. So that I can show my kids one day wat a real Footballer plays like. One that's faster, quicker, sharper, more skill full, one that never complains the list goes on an on. Messi plays for the love of the game.! The day he stopped playing he we'll know him as the player that so passed the rest! By a mile! LOE10

Carl 8 months ago

When Messi is marked properly eg. watch liverpool v Barcelona he is not that good it's the Barcelona team that make Messi look good there are a lot of good players that have been together for a long time playing in a league with maybe 3 good teams that are not very physical as a league.

Pelé played against some of the nastiest players out to break his legs all the time,

Zinidane Zidane could win games by himself, George best would have left Messi crying with envy, Rooney sacrificed himself for the sake of the team for years to make Ronaldo look good......I could go on......... Argentina has great players and Messi looks very ordinary, put pressure on Messi and most of the time he cannot handle it.

I'm glad he is your hero and best player but he is not even close to being mine or a lot of other peoples for that matter.

RG 6 months ago

Football was completely different when Pele played. Many of the best players in the world didn't play in Europe, specifically the South Americans. None of the members of the 1970 Brazil team, considered by many the best ever, played in Europe at the time. Pele's team, Santos, did many trips to Europe to play European teams and had a great record, and won the world club championship a couple of times.

I think it is better to compare them 1) based on success over time and 2) based on skill and other characteristics. For the first, I think we'll have to give Messi a few more years before we compare them. I think he has a better chance of maintaining his form if he isn't injured because he seems dedicated (versus Ronaldhino for instance).

Siekron Nah Befoh from liberia 6 months ago

look guy,we cannot debate fact,messi is exceptional he is the best thing that ever happen in the world of soccer on planet earth and infact,he will continue to win the world best player award until he can leave the game

Elian 6 months ago

Pele is better than messi because pele scored 1278 goals

Newton raji 5 months ago

Mess is the greatest footballer of all time.

edwin taha 5 months ago

NO WAY(Y)

Mardam 5 months ago

Messi is half human, half amazing....., the world cup use to be the greatest foot ball event back then, but not any more.... Within his shor career in a modern day were defenders train trice as hard, a player who never bullies his opponent, create oppurtunities at will, scores at at will, very fluid with the ball. Unlike the mechanical ronaldiho, cristiano ronaldo, who are jus show men. Defenders can count their leg works and stop them, c ronaldo is worst with a poorer stamina. Cristiano ronaldo always ask for favours from refrees. Ronaldiho has to for dance 6 seconds b4 he dribbles one person, thats exactly the time messi takes to dribble 4 persons on the average, to sink any team. He makes other players believe in themselve, thats what you can see in barca. Messi is a perfection of what those show men were trying to be. Messi infact has higher bodily and kinestetic intelligence than any player ever. Fluid, breezy dribling techniques a defender can never stop even after watching his videos clips a million times. His humility is what makes pele and other showmen who trive on propagander fear him most. Goals were easy then when people like artur friendrich will score 1372 against pele's 1280:

jtw 4 months ago

For the fools who are ignorantly stuck in the past messi is clearly a cut above anyone who has kicked a soccer ball,the fact that he is running circles round sheare world class teams and even the likes of sir fergie,the special don't have an answer with all the money in the world should tell you something more so that he isn't even a 9 jersey.in this era where money rules football,messi purely plays the sport,that real madrid squad is one of if not the best they have ever had and he is plain killing them,after uefa final last year fergie went and bought a boat load of players thanks to messi,so embrace the greatest to ever kick a ball and witness it in appreciation so you can tell your grandkids about the all time undisputed great

Igor 4 months ago

Messi has a lot to do yet. He can become first in history. Maradona was a great player but he will never be the first. Lets see how Messi does he is still playing. I am his fan but statistically I cannot say that he overcame Pele but I am cheering for a modern legend! Let's be real.

Mardam 4 months ago

Pele should tell his grand children that, he was just a john the bapist, the real messiah is here..... If you like build a fence around your post. Messi will still score.... Am sorry to tell you that scoring goals is not his priority...... Like c ronaldo who is suffering from a complex

RG 3 months ago

I often see people say Pele didn't play in Europe. Football was different back then. The best players didn't all play in Europe. In fact, perhaps most didn't. The 1970 Brazil WC side is often cited as the best ever. None of those players played in Europe at that time. The entire Italian team did, in contrast, and Brazil destroyed them 4-1 in the final. Certainly Brazilian Football was more attacking for the most part than Europe, but you can't say they didn't have good players there. Pele's Santos team was considered one of the best in the world for quite a while and did well in international competitions.

Da scofield 3 months ago

Needless regretting the fact that u refused to watch the all time football legend while you were busy defending past players judged on goals (pele), (arthur fr... when you should be part of the lucky guys to watch messiless mesmerizing messi in order for you to have an evidence when asked by your grandchild "who is the greatest ever". Pele wont win a world cup in this football iceage. Meanwhile, you dare not tell me xavi iniesta are the architect of his greateness coz the duo were not known in ronaldinho's era @ barca yet they had countless appearances. Messi showed them to the world. His assists counts alongside his goals.

Mardam 3 months ago

Nice one @ scofield

JK 3 months ago

Evryone is forgetting that during Pele's era the toughest and most superior league was that of the south Americas not of Europe yes the leagues where strong put that era of football was dominated by the paraguays uraguays BRAZILS etc... Pele is the greatest not only for his goal scoring record but also his durability you lookout the damage he took in the Portugal brazil game and you're trying to tell me Mesi is just as durable. It's laughable.

don 3 months ago

hey please update the goals scored by these players again...i lov e messi ...he is the best player of the world...even better than pele

Rasputin44 3 months ago

Doesn't really matter who is better for me the joy watching Messi play I hope that those who saw Pele and/or Diego play in their prime received as much pleasure. We should all be grateful to live at a time to watch a player like Messi.

da scofield 3 months ago

@ mardam 10ks. @ jk, pele wont win his 3 wc with korea or japan. For your info, he had garincha by his side thereby making brazil unbeatable prior to the old school football they played.

Daam The Analyst 3 months ago

All,

Alot of arguement about who is the best ever footballer in the world. Well, this term is very subjective. Its hard to say who is the best. To be fair, this thing is almost impossible to decide.

Messi, Maradona, Pele or Cruyff!

For me, Cruyff will be well remember had he win world cup, but he didnt. Same goes to Maradona and Pele, where are their place if they fail to win the WC? Think about that guys.

So, the characteristic of the best footballer is easy to exclude the WC or the Cups they had.

Maradona, by far is better than Pele, no doubt about that. Its easy, if you use brain, you couldnt argue the fact that if you put Pele in the Argentina 86, the team won't win the WC, absolutely no! Instead of Maradona, if you put replace pele with Maradona, Brazil will win with unimaginble WC success and a lot record will be made and break. Now you understand how the comparison made? cant you? Haha..Maradona by far can destroy a good team by himself. Regardless of the era they played, Maradona seem to be on his own class.

Messi and Pele are on PAR!! The decision was very easy to make because both players are/was incredibly great but one major weakness is still need a good team surround them. Maradona is in higher level class in his time, no doubt about that, and thats why he could manage to bring Argentina win the WC 86.

Both Messi and Pele are the goal machines. But messi a bit higher rate as he could play as playmaker and move the team to make a goal. In other hand, Pele has greater technique compare to messi, while messi has more accelaration and balance while Pele has more power.

This is what make both Messi and Pele is on Par regardless of playing style.

However, the good news is Messi can go more upper level if he play major role in winning the WC to Argentina (maybe 2014). And if Messi is the Captain of that time, he will be the greatest ever player and eclipse Maradona to be 2nd while Pele remain 3rd.

Why I said like that? Because Messi will be Role Model in and off pitch, respect by friend and enemy, Success in life, family, club, country, and thats what we call perfect player.

Now, Messi is the only one who got this chance. But, if he fail to prove that he is in different world, then game over. He equal wiht Pele. Thats it.

chi 3 months ago

Are u guys ok pele scored over 1200 goals and 3 world cups who else did that during his time if it was that easy messi aint even as good as zidane who took his team to the France 98 world cup and won it, who has won the fifa world best player 3 times. Without arguments pele is the greatest so far in football and the brazillian league was far more competive than the European league back then, go do your research maradona was good but not even in messi's league

Guy 3 months ago

Messi better than Pelé?

Hahahahahahahaha.

It`s a great joke!

Daam 3 months ago

Haha... Chi, you talk about goal? haha... Your mind is not up there. You only think easy way. The statistic need to be use if its in equal of time. This is absolutely disgrace! Pele is the best Brazil player. Thats the fact. The fact that Ballon d'or and World Best player did not exist in 1930s and the youtube, internet and even people who the witness of great Hungarian and maybe West Germany havent call the greatest team or individu cause we never see them. The fact football only popular within certain part of the world is one thing. Brazil indeed is among the best team within 1960-1980, but what that mean? Its funny when people cant really use their head. Last time, alot people still dont know what is football. 1.2k goal, put messi and maradona at brazil league during Pele time, they both will be double the score. The fact that Pele is selfish player remain till forever. I can say that Ronaldo (brazil) was far better than Pele. How he came back from years of injury, and bring brazil to win the world cup, with golden boot then Fifa Best player. haih, last time maybe only 100 000 people know how to play football, nw? maybe 100 million you moron!

Nick 3 months ago

I am sorry to disappoint the author of the article but he got it all wrong...

Maradonna has been the greatest figure in modern football. Not any other player single-handedly raised the game of the teams he played to such levels. And no player brought such fear to opposite teams the way he did.

Maradona played for Argentina in 4 world cups. One he won, one he was a finalist and one he was withdrawn. We all know how FIFA AWARDED the 1990 WC to Germany with that controversial penalty. As a matter of fact FIFA has treated Maradona unfairly compared to any other player, for their own politics. Even when FIFA allowed football fans to vote for the B.O.A.T. and Maradona surpassed anyone else, they decided he had to share it with -guess who...- Pele. But sticking on the Argentina in WCs, look at the team-sheets and you will find few if any World class players along Diego. The same cannot be said about any other greats (with the exception of Italy) who have helped their teams to win WCs.

Maradona also played for Napoli at the time Serie A was by far the strongest and richest league in the world. He won a couple of scuddettos for them plus UEFA cup and few Italian Cups.

Of course I reject the "God-like" status he is given by many. He made a lot of mistakes, he did not preserve his legacy as other players (like Pele), he was not diplomatic, and certainly he cannot serve as a role model for kids.

The problem with the article is that considers the personal skills of each footballer. As a matter of fact you can find quite a few footballers with amazing skills even better that those of Messi, Maradonna, Pele etc - take Mr 'drible' Denilson. My objection is that the author does not judge the whole impact of the player on the pitch. Maradona was a team in himself and all teams he played for (apart from his last ones) were "different teams" when he was playing for them. To put it in other words, "once he touched the pitch he was the greatest football personality we have seen".

And all these are written by someone who supports Brazil in World Cups...

degerejis bello 3 months ago

i proud to be a player like messi, because he is very comprehensive in his duty

Manuel 3 months ago

Alright, I have some questions and comments on the guys mentioned. I'll start with Pele. I never got to watch him, and honestly (even though this is very ignorant and maybe even stupid of me) i dont want to. I simply think, shit, the guy played forever ago when a lot of the players probably sucked compared to today, and yeah he won world cups but he had amazing brasil teams. Also, the guy is an ass. Every time he's asked about other players and how they're compared to him he says no no i'm the best. and always brings up his 1200 whatever goals. Maradona, also another guy I never got to see, but from what I hear he was the team, no matter where he played so I think he should definitely be above pele. But, like pele, he is a cocky ass. Now the modern three: rooney, ronaldo, messi. No matter what people say about them, they are ALL something else. all a once in a generation player. if you ask why? simple, let's start with rooney. the guy is a workhorse, a scorer, passionate, a bull, carries his team, and his technical ability (i.e. long passes and ball control) has become impacable when he is in shape. i realize he is on and off but that doesn't make him not great. Now Ronaldo. He, I believe, possesses the widest arsenal of weapons in the game today, maybe even in history. He has the ability to score from a header, a free kick, a long shot, one on one, you name it. he is so fast and he has proved that he can adapt to different playing styles (something messi hasnt done). Now Messi. First i'd like to say that those who believe that it's not messi's fault he doesn't perform on argentina. Are you retarded? you say that they dont adapt to his paly. haha since when does a team adapt to one guy. yeah i realize he's the best, but BECAUSE HE IS CONSIDERED THE BEST SHOULDN'T HE FIND A WAY. its not like argentina sucks. look at the players. As much as I hate messi (because i'm a rm fan) I think he is the best ever. he may not possess as many weapons as cr7 but what he does is uncomparable. the guy is a genius and perhaps the reason i hate him is what makes him great. he is flawless. he just plays to play, you try to make him mad and he doesnt reply, you hit him and he continues to play, he makes you look stupid and doesnt laugh at you. the guy is the best.

stavros 3 months ago

messi is great, maradona was great but pele was more complete. shoot, dribble, physical gifted, header, pass, and the most important both feet playing.i think the last is the main differece between the other two and could score in 1283 different ways.im 36 years old and i thought maradona was the greatest until isaw the first video of pele when i realise why pele is the complete football player

Lee 2 months ago

Are you (mostly) fucking mental?

Messi does shot on the international stage, never will.

Don't compare physical contact/abuse because that element simply doesn't exist now.

Point well made by some is that Latin American leagues compared much more favourably with Europe in Pele's era.

Pele 1 by some distance, then the wee coke-head then MAYBE Messi.

Have a nice day.....

Sean 2 months ago

I think alot off people on here are actually forgetting what age messi actually is! And lets be real he has not peaked yet, i think its complete utter rubbish that people think to be considered the best you need to win a world cup? Pele did not win it on his own he had a good team! Football is not an indivudial sport its a team sport! Messi is the best player ever and hes going to get even better there is no player like him! Why can't people open their eyes and just watch the talent messi has because it will be decades before we see it again! In 10 years time them people who say pele or maradona is the best ever will eat their words cause if they can't see it now they will then! FACT!

ohsee 2 months ago

Who is the best is a good discussion topic, but such a discussion can never be resolved because "the best" is a very subjective judgement.

A better question to ask is "who is the greatest" which initially may seem like it is not that different from "who is the best," but it is more likely to give profitable answers.

If we try to determine the greatest by looking at individual and team accomplishments over a career, especially extraordinary individual and team accomplishments, then "greatest" becomes easier to determine.

Messi's career is not yet over, so we cannot judge his "greatness" yet by looking at his extraordinary accomplishments over his whole career.

But we can look at his career up to this point, and compare it with the career of Pele and Maradona. If we look at extraordinary achievements, Messi compares well with Maradona, but does not come close to Pele. For instance, as a 17 year old Pele was taken to a World Cup while injured. He recovered in the middle of the tournament, and was immediately inserted into the starting line up. He not only did not disappoint, he ended up second top scorer of the World Cup with six goals in four games, some of them absolutely spectacular. At club level, in his first full season as a 16 year old going on 17, Pele was top scorer in the Campeonato Paulista with 17 goals. Nobody on record has ever done this before or after Pele.

Neither Maradona nor Messi has shown such precocious talent, or even come close. Maradona was considered too immature to even sit on the bench in 1978, when he was 18. When he went to the World Cup at 22 in 1982, he showed that the earlier judgement of his coach was justified, because he was a complete bust in that tournament.

So far, Messi has been only a club player, and sadly, for one club only, a club loaded with brilliant talent. When Messi was 16, he was not even on the first team; it took him till age 22 to begin to achieve any of the goalscoring exploits of a Pele.

You cannot argue that what Pele did in his time was easier; no one else was doing it; no one else was even close.

Habbey 2 months ago

Only fool dont consider messi as d bxt ever at dis time of his age, between 17yrs - 24yrs national level He won under 17 Gold medal and best player and also won the olympic Gold medal and best player. In his club carrer he won laliga 5 times toping d scorer chart twice, he won d champions league 3times and top d scorer chart 4tyms in a roll, he won d fifa word cup 2ce and d best player on d two occassion, he won both copal del rey and spanish cup, he won the best player in the world 3times in a roll and his club all time goals scorer. OTHER COMMON ACCHIEVEMENT. D only player to won the olympic and under 17 gold medal and bxt player, d only player to score 4 goal english side in CL, d oly player to score 5 goals in d CL. LIONEL MESSI ACHIEVE ALL THIS BTW 17-24 AND YET HE IS NOT A STRIKER. He is humble, unsellfish and respebt alot. By 30yrs he will won the world cup. Want to share more on lionel messi da'great, add me on my facebook account HADENIRAN HADEBOSIPO HABBEY. Long live d king.

mike 2 months ago

hmm a cheating druggy who was frankly a scumbag on and off the pitch, or someone nurtured by Barcelona since a boy. (they paid for his medical requirements since age of 11 and now he is repaying them tenfold with amazing skill.) Choice is clear cut between those two. Messi simply plays, doesn't do the diving bullshit of c.ronaldo. And for Pele to feel the need to say he is better than Messi clearly means the opposite is true or he wouldn't be concerned about it. What also has to be remembered is we still have another 10-14 years of Messi - depending on how long he carries on. With his ability, he could walk the ball into the net.

mike 2 months ago

@ habbey

Ajax striker scored 5 in one game in champions league as well one year. Crazy too if you think the amount of Striker talent Holland has had and sold. Bergkamp, Ronaldo (from psv) Nistelrooy, cruijf, van basten... list goes on

salustiano Jurandi 2 months ago

I think Messi is a great player, but how can you compare him to a player like Pele. Another thing before comparing at Messi and Pele compare Messi and Eusebio "the black panther" from S.L.Benfica this guy played in Europe and was one of the bests. I think Messi still need more time. Off course you are a Barcelona FC supporter and you want your player to be the best player in the world but you must get things right.

Silvio/BR 2 months ago

Well, I saw a lot of Messi´s games and in my sure is is the best player in the moment but...the best player ever ? I dont agree.

He does nice things in the field but he has never done something that took my breath away...nothing realy astonish...

The best thing about Messi is his regularity.

I have saw some interviews from Barcelona´s fans and they say that Ronaldinho was more spetacular than Messi.

Did you remember Maradona´s score againt England in 86, do you remember the feeling ?

Did you saw the scores Pele has done with only 18 in the 58 World Cup ?

Did you see the Pele´s kick from the middle of the field ?

Did you see the narrator describing these moments on the TV ?

I have never had this feeling with Messi.

He does exceptional things in the field that few can do...but still always the same.

Regards.

Tony 2 months ago

Each time a player come on the scene who shows evidence of great potential, he is automatically dubbed the next Pele, and or Maradona. Now, Messi shows that ability. He is graceful, cunning, quick, deceptive and deadly. However, please remember that, ALL off his success has come on the club level. He has played two world cups and he performed average at best. Maradona and Pele will always be legends of the became because they proved on the highest level of soccer / football (World Cup), that they are the best. The incomparable Pele did it three times, '58,'62 and '70. Look at Diego's in Mexico in 1986? Messi need to win a few world cups before he can be considered to be in the league of Diega and Pele.

Plinio 2 months ago

Brazilian league weaker???? You know nothing about soccer. Brazilian league is MUCH harder than Spanish league. They have 8, 10 teams capable of be the champion, Spanish has only 2.

Pele is more complete, played well in any team. Messi only plays a good soccer in Barcelona. (Remember, Germant 4 X 0 Argentina in WC 2010, Pele never faced this terrible results)

Peter 2 months ago

Just one point to consider.

By the time Pele scored more than 1000 goals, Brazilian league was the most difficult League in the world because no brazilians used to go to Europe in this period and no country had more World Cup than they have also....

Spanish league in the 70's...what a joke....the best players and league was Brazilian, Italian, argentina and german....but like I said brazil had 3 world cups....so they had the upper hand here....

Edison Arantes do Nascimiento 2 months ago

Pele is way better then Messi joining The World Cup team at the age of 16 did Messi do that no. and also you probably could not do thaat so just be quiet

?? 8 weeks ago

messi is way better than pele

Deepak 8 weeks ago

Type 5 things Pele fans don't want to know in google -bleacher report

Pele record in WC is way over-rated

nods 8 weeks ago

brazil is the greatest team ever, why? because they have the greatest players ever, and possibly the greatest ever player. if messi is the greatest player ever , then argentina should as least be one of the greatest teams ever in the last 6 years.

nods 8 weeks ago

but argentina not the greatest team in the last 6 years implies that messi can not be the greatest ever at least till he make argentina the greatest ever

Indra R 8 weeks ago

I' ve seen Maradona Play at Napoli..., but messi is the young Living Legend in this world, no word can say.....

FaisalKhan2121 7 weeks ago

Messi full stop.

Nash 7 weeks ago

Guys, simply Pele is international best ever. Club and european history, Messi without a doubt!

Adrian 7 weeks ago

Messi, ronaldo, rooney, and several other are better than maradona and pele. In my opinion, we had to accept Thai nowadays football has been evolved to more systematich, harder and fast. Pen more thing that we should take inti consideration is that the fact tournement like champion league, european league, domestic league ( la liga, epl and etc) are actually harder and more competitive than world cup and other continental cup suci as Euro, cup of Africa, and as Wellington those in south America and etc. Just think yourself, is the team unit of a country is better than clubs. Players have a little time to train together for a country team wih ke for the clubs they train everyday. They also have a competitive game week in and week out. All this make

SNGAIHTE 7 weeks ago

messi is bettr than pele..... pele sucks... marodona is legend....... bliv it or not...

Axam legend 7 weeks ago

Oh o its nice compression of old players with today players.But anyhow as pele is he was best in those days when there was no yellow and red card and there was no offside so he just can scored 100000 goals and one thing that is important is that in the time when pele was playing only he was considered to be best player and those days he havn't any competators to compete with them.But if we look the footbal of nowadays there are 1000 best and superior players like rooney,ronaldo,xavi ,inesta,torres and u have to play football u have to compete with them to chase the top position.As messi is the best and ever best player compared to pele and maradona.bcx he have to compete with best players'dependers and teams and he chase every team and depender in his game now u have to decide who is best messi or pele and maridona.i think messi is.

Tswai kamogelo 6 weeks ago

Lol!none of you have no clue at what your talking about with Lionel Messi,Messi is the greatest there will ever be in football much more better than pele,maradona etc.Messi is uneasy with the tag of god of football,always in fine form as always and think twice befor saying because Messi will be better than he is now in 2,3 years time.the key 2 managing a player like him is to give the freedom to do whatever he wants in the field,no limitation,no rigid positions just let him play.thanks god messi exists,already won all there is to win in football,not even any player is at close at chalenging him.he is a player who needs no introduction with his ability to run through tackle after tackle.and dont forget that leo scored over 100 goals each season when he was playing in argentina for newels old boys.oh and no player in every season in all competitions scores more than him.come on guys the reason pele is good is because of 1283 goals and please dont forget football isnt just because of scoring goals and even dow brazil wouldve won world cups without pele as u can see,and write now argentina needs messi because they cannot achieve without him...dont forget messi creates the most great chances for argentina and all they can do is that they cant keep up with him...not even pele or maradona at the age of 24 won as much as messi won ,think of the coming up years.he is uncomperable.already being the first man to score 5 goals in a match in the uefa,messi was born to break records and the most interesting thing is that money cant buy messi,he does the imposible beyond the posible,any1 to answer this question how many world best players will messi take?because he workng on the 4th 1,and not evn ronald is chalenging him actualy no player can chalenge him,some says rooney is the best and ofcoz he is the best but he himself declared that messi is the great and that he is better than playstion,as wel as arsenal coach saying he better than playstion..MESSI better than pele,maradona.4 lyf

jerseys4kids.com 6 weeks ago

To suggest that Messi is greater than Pele, at this point in time is pure nonsense. He may yet become the greatest ever, but he has a long way to go. With limited success in international football and no World Cup trophies, he can't be considered in the same light as Maradona or Pele. I think the author probably knows this, but what the hell .. makes a good title and stirs up some controversy .. am I right?

tanvir 5 weeks ago

pele won 3 world cups???absolute nonsense--pele came from the bench in '58 world cup and although he scored 6 goals,his brazilian teammate didi was the best player of the tournment..in '62 world cup,pele played for only 5 mins and then got injured..garrincha was the best player by far in that tournament..then in '70 world cup,pele's teammate Jairzinho scored 8 goals from a deeper position than pele who only scored 4 goals..pele was NOT THE BEST PLAYER in any of these 3 world cups..pele's career was really a gift because he was soo lucky to play alongside legendary teammates like didi,vava,amarildo,garrincha,tostao,rivelino,gerson,carlos alberto..

Pele played in a competitive Brazilian League,yes i agree..but he never scored "official" 1000 goals..youth goals and friendly goals were added to that tally..also pele played in that poor shitty USA league were there ZERO competition..

compare that to messi's..NOW,champions league is the highest competition NOT the World cup..messi has won it 3 times and he was the highest goalscorer and the best player 3 TIMES!!!..and that is why he got 3 BALLON D'ORS...messi has already being mentioned alongside pele and he is only 24 years old!!!!!!!!....and in all honesty,messi will become the greatest player of all time when he retires even if he doesn't win the World Cup..World Cup is now being dominated by European Countries and those Latino countries have little chance of winning it..

messi will be the greatest player of all time but he will not be another maradona...in fact,maradona is on a completely different level and he cannot be compared to pele or messi..because there will never be a player again who will drag an average team to the world cup win..there will never be a player again who makes a relegation team a Serie A champion..there will never be a player again who controls the ball as mind blowingly as maradona..there will more pele's, more messi's in the future but there will be no football player like maradona..maradona is not merely a "great football player"..he is JUST SOMETHING ELSE..

tanvir 5 weeks ago

and i just want to state that the greatest geniuses of football(garrincha,maradona,best)always had off-field troubles..but that should not be considered because we are talking ON-field not outside life..and DRUGS DO NOT MAKE A PLAYER BETTER..IF DRUGS IS TAKEN ON HIGH DOSE THEN IT MAKES A PERSON ALMOST FULLY RETARDED..maradona took drugs because it was HIS CHOICE to take drugs..and as long as football doesn't equip technology with it,then "HAND OF GODS" will continue to occur..people make so much fuss about that cheating goal, and how no body talks that England was awarded that goal in 1966 world cup final when the ball was clearly not over the line..in football these things will always happen but as long as there are people out there who calls football "soccer" ,maradona will always be unfairly bashed by these ignorant fools..but those who always love football will never ever forget maradona's unbelievable contributions to football..

Emma1899 5 weeks ago

No doubt that maradona helped palermo win d Serie A, bt we are talking about individual brilliance n skills. Messi has them all. Football then and now has taken a new shape. If u say maradona or pele is better, i will rate messi above them. Shikena!!!!!

tanvir 5 weeks ago

@emma1899- "maradona helped palermo win d Serie A" this shows how little knowledge you have about maradona..i will tell the full story about maradona's career just so that you ignorant fools get to know what an absolutely incredible player maradona was.

Diego Armando Maradona- At age 10, Maradona was spotted by a talent scout while he was playing in his neighborhood club Estrella Roja. He became a staple of Los Cebollitas (The Little Onions), the junior team of Buenos Aires's Argentinos Juniors. As a 12-year-old ball boy, he amused spectators by showing his wizardry with the ball during the halftime intermissions of first division games.On 20 October 1976, Maradona made his professional debut with Argentinos Juniors, ten days before his sixteenth birthday. He played there between 1976 and 1981, scoring 115 goals in 167 appearances before his £1m transfer to Boca Juniors. Having joined the Boca squad midway through the 1981 season, Maradona played through 1982 earning his first league championship medal.He made his full international debut at age 16, against Hungary on 27 February 1977. At age 18, he played the World Youth Championship for Argentina, and was the star of the tournament, shining in their 3–1 final win over the Soviet Union. On 2 June 1979, Maradona scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1 win against Scotland at Hampden Park.Note:Inspite of such great achievments from an early age,maradona was not selected for the 1978 World Cup because the then Argentina Coach Luis Menotti thought that maradona was "too young" to play in a world cup..maradona didn't have the luck that pele had when he was selected for the 1958 World Cup when in all honesty,maradona's club performance at age 17 was way greater than pele's performance when he was 17..

Maradona played his first World Cup tournament in 1982. In the first round, Argentina, the defending champions, lost to Belgium. Although the team convincingly beat Hungary and El Salvador to progress to the second round, they were defeated in the second round by Brazil and by eventual winners Italy.

THE LEGENDARY 1986

Maradona captained the Argentine national team to victory in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, winning the final in Mexico against West Germany. Throughout the 1986 World Cup Maradona asserted his dominance and was the most dynamic player of the tournament. He played every minute of every Argentina game, scored 5 goals and made 5 assists. After scoring two goals in the 2–1 quarter-final win against England his legend was cemented.

This match was played with the background of the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom and emotions were still lingering in the air throughout the entire match. Replays showed that the first goal was scored by striking the ball with his hand. Maradona was coyly evasive, describing it as "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God." It became known as the "Hand of God". Ultimately, on 22 August 2005 Maradona acknowledged on his television show that he had hit the ball with his hand purposely, and that he immediately knew the goal was illegitimate. This became known as an international fiasco in World Cup history. The goal stood, much to the wrath of the English players.

Maradona's second goal, just four minutes after the hotly disputed hand-goal, was later voted by FIFA as the greatest goal in the history of the World Cup. He received the ball in his own half, swivelled around, and with 11 touches ran more than half the length of the field, dribbling past five English outfield players (Peter Beardsley, Steve Hodge, Peter Reid, Terry Butcher, and Terry Fenwick) and goalkeeper Peter Shilton. This goal was voted "Goal of the Century" in a 2002 online poll conducted by FIFA.

Maradona followed this with two more goals in the semi-final against Belgium, including another virtuoso dribbling display for the second goal. In the final, the opposing West German side attempted to contain him by double-marking, but he nevertheless found the space to give the final pass to Jorge Burruchaga for the winning goal. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in front of 115,000 spectators at the Azteca Stadium.

During the course of the tournament, Maradona attempted or created more than half of Argentina's shots, embarked on 90 dribbles some three times more than any other player and was fouled 53 times winning his team twice as many free kicks as any player. Maradona also scored or assisted 10 of Argentina's 14 goals and despite being heavily marked during the final played a crucial part in all three winning goals ensuring that he would be remembered as one of the greatest names in football history.

By the end of the tournament, Maradona went on winning the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament by a unanimous vote and was widely regarded to have won the World Cup virtually single-handedly. In a tribute to him, the Azteca Stadium authorities also built a statue of him scoring the "goal of the century" and placed it at the entrance of the stadium.

Maradona captained Argentina again in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. An ankle injury affected his overall performance, and he was much less dominant than four years earlier. Argentina was almost eliminated in the first round, only qualifying in third position from their group. In the round of 16 match against Brazil, Claudio Caniggia scored the only goal after being set up by Maradona.

In the quarter final, Argentina faced Yugoslavia, the match ending 0–0 after 120 minutes, and Argentina advancing on penalty kicks, despite Maradona missing one of the penalties in the shootout with a weak shot at the centre of the goal. The semifinal against the host nation Italy was also resolved on penalties after a 1–1 draw; this time, Maradona was successful with his effort, daringly placing the ball at exactly the same spot as his missed penalty in the previous round. In the final, Argentina lost 1–0 to West Germany, the only goal being a penalty by Andreas Brehme in the 85th minute after a controversial foul on Rudi Völler.

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup Maradona played in only two games, scoring one goal against Greece, before being sent home after failing a drug test for ephedrine doping.His failed drugs test at the 1994 World Cup signaled the end of his international career, which had lasted 17 years and yielded 34 goals from 91 games.

Club Career

After the 1982 World Cup, in June, Maradona was transferred to Barcelona in Spain for a then world record £5m.[2] In 1983, under coach César Luis Menotti, Barcelona and Maradona won the Copa del Rey (Spain's annual national cup competition), beating Real Madrid, and the Spanish Super Cup, beating Athletic de Bilbao. However, Maradona had a difficult tenure in Barcelona. First a bout with hepatitis, then a broken ankle caused by an ill-timed tackle by Athletic's Andoni Goikoetxea threatened with jeopardizing Maradona's career, but after treatment and therapy it was possible for him to soon be back on the pitch. At Barcelona, Maradona got into frequent disputes with the team's directors, especially club president Josep Lluís Núñez, culminating with a demand to be transferred out of Camp Nou in 1984. He was transferred to Napoli in Italy's Serie A for another record fee, £6.9m.

At Napoli, Maradona reached the peak of his professional career. He quickly became an adored star among the club's fans, and in his time there he elevated the team to the most successful era in its history. Led by Maradona, Napoli won their only Serie A Italian Championships in 1986/87 and 1989/1990, placing second in the league twice, in 1987/88 and 1988/89. Other honors during the Maradona era at Napoli included the Coppa Italia in 1987, (second place in the Coppa Italia in 1989), the UEFA Cup in 1989 and the Italian Supercup in 1990. Maradona was the top scorer in Serie A in 1987/88.

Playing style

Maradona had a compact physique and could withstand physical pressure well. His strong legs and low center of gravity gave him an advantage in short sprints. His physical strengths were illustrated by his two goals against Belgium in the 1986 World Cup. Marado

Kamogelo Tswai 5 weeks ago

Cm on guys,fans of pele only hv 2 points agnst messi.no1 1283 goals,no2 3 wrld cups...big lol,if pele ws grt y dan ddnt he win 3 wrld bst plyr in da wrld?lts nt tk da 1283 cz messi is jst arnd da cornr,u pele fans h8t messi cz of wht he does afrd of admtng hes da bst da wl evr b...plz ppl dnt evn thnk of syng messi 2 b grt is cz of xavi,iniesta,.sinc whn dd a team adpt 2 1 guy or y ddnt u sy so at da tym of pele hvng plyrs lyk jairznho etc.,24 of age alrdy in legnds 60 goals in al cmpttns nd 10 gms stl 2 cEND OF DSCUSN MESSI IS DA GRTST DA WL EVR B ND DTS DA FCT...

jerseys4kids.com 5 weeks ago

@kamogelo tswai,

You talk about 3 World Cups as if that is no big deal?

Amobi Obute 5 weeks ago

Messi is better pele and other top players in the world.

CR7 5 weeks ago

this is obviously a messi lover's website...

ibebe 4 weeks ago

so many ppl here talking craps here absolutely stupid and complete ignorance and lack proper research abt Pele and messi and maradona. did u watch d 2011 ballon d' v award wen messi became d best player of dat yr. Before he was given d award Pele was still recognise as d greatest footballer of all time. Now dat is those who are at the helms of affairs on football matters. If fifa cld recognise him as dat currently and gave him d best player of the century (100 yrs) which u know very well den who are u to say messi is better than Pele. Ignorance they say is a disease you had better be inform. Messi is a great player but not d greatest yet cos in the next 88yrs someone might just be far better than ur so called messi.

OJO, Tayo 4 weeks ago

The GODFATHERS in FOOTBALL; PELE & MARADONA. The FOLLOWERS are C-RONALDO, MESSI & ROONEY.

Messi fans should shut up, and give KUDOS to the godfathers....

Jimmy David 4 weeks ago

Since soccer is a team sport and relies on complex tactics, it can present different results with different player participations (notive than nobody includes goalkeepers or defenders in these pols). So, it's only fair to speak of the most "talented" player, instead of the "greatest". And Messi is far more talented than Pelé. We have to go all the way back to George Best to find someone with similar talent.

Mark 4 weeks ago

If Messi can not do something good for argentina he is never the best. All the same it is a foot ball game at international level with international players. Why is messy lost big time in international matches. maradona and pele did wonders which appeared simple bewcause we witnessed them with hindsight. But why does Messi falter at intrenational level? If he is the best, he should have shown his individual brilliance. he is playing among the best of the best that arentina has produced. Ask the ball he will be given 100 times. But he does not do any thing with the ball. We have seen him in the 2006 world cup in germany, the 2010 world cup in germany. He was a total disappoint. It is much gratifying to see maradona for 1/2 a minute than see messi for the whole tournament he played ina world cup. Mradona certainly is better than pele in terms of individual brilliance. The 1986 showed that it was almost impossible to stop maradona. Any team in which maradona played would have won that world cup because maradona would dribble past 60 players and score, if needs be. Pele was a robust player and a gifted one but it is difficult to compare him with the fast, dextruous and extermely intelluigent player in the name of maradona who was producing something out of almost nothing.

Fahim 4 weeks ago

I have to say Messi is a great guy I hope he would always be the best Argentinian soccer player in the hole world and I say Messi is the first-1 best soccer player in the hole wide world.

Siafa 4 weeks ago

Thanks for your hub premierkj! Messi is the best player ever! Anyone who argues this and rate pele as the best ever must answer just these two questions below:1. was there better footballers during his [pele] career? unlike now you have Messi, CR7, Rooney, Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, etc all of whom competing for world best title. 2. how many players did have proper training before a match? unlike now there are so many preparation for players to undergo before every match. Another issue regarding messi is that 'He has not yet win a world cup for Argentina'! that's true! But Messi is not the first Fifa world player of the year that haven't given his nation a World cup. Lets take a look back at 1995 Fifa world player of the year George Weah. Weah did received World best player of the yr, European best player of the year and African player of the year in a single season 1995, but now wants to become president of his country! WHAT?! but indeed HE fail to even qualify his nation Liberia for the 1998 & 2002 Fifa world cup tournament! so Messi has even done well by qualifying Argentina for a world cup. since Maradona era, Messi has brought Argetina back on the map of soccer! so why not give the man the flower when he's alive?!

Goldenboots 4 weeks ago

Messi is the best at the moment but to say he is the best of all time? especially better than Pele? total garbage. To be the best you have to win championships at both club level and international level. Pele did that multiple times. the best of Pele in his days would still dominate in todays game. with a couple world cup wins under his belt then we can start talking. To be the best one must find a way to win regardless of the opponents and era they are playing. Pele, Maradona, Ronaldo and whom ever else deserves to be called the best did it. And Messi? remains to be seen.

sarjames 4 weeks ago

...MYSTERIOUS MERCILESS MESSI THE FOOTBALL MESMERIZER. HE REMAINS THE BEST FOOTBALL LIVING LEGEND SOCCER HAS EVER SEEN OR PRODUCED. WE ARE ALL WITNESS OF HIS DUMBFOUND ABILITIES WHENEVER HES WITH THE BALL...

Filipe 4 weeks ago

Zidane, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldinho are the best ever and are/were two seconds ahead of everbody else on the pitch.

C. Ronaldo, Ronaldo, Eusébio, Pelé, Zico, Best, Cruyff close behind.

(Rooney? Great player but nowhere near: on the level of Romário, Rossi, Platini, Figo, Rivaldo, Baggio, Muller, Lineker, and countless others)

john o boyleone 4 weeks ago

1 thing people r forgeting about is the pitch conditions in the 60s and 70s look at the skill george best produced on mud piles

sarjames 4 weeks ago

Messi is the reason Barcelona are successful at what they do. I think Barcelona are great because of Messi.It is true that things have not gone well for Argentina but Messi is not the reason. In 2006 he was injured during the tournament. In 2010 Argentina had a clueless manager. Messi was also unlucky but Argentina played ...quite well until they were eliminated by an excellent Germany team. Pele won 3 world cups at a time when there was little opposition. He was fantastic but as football evolves, players get better and Messi is better than Pele. The Champions League is a better competition today than the World Cup and Messi has already won it twice and he is at the verge of winning another now...

876Baller 4 weeks ago

Why is it that every chance a little young Riff-Raff gets they seem to try to make a crazy comparison of who the greatest footballer is.... It seems as soon as Lionel Scores a goal they go on and write a completely biased article about who has now become better than Pele.... Hands Down PELE is the Best the sport has ever seen!! Diego was very good and Messi Also... But Stats Are the best way to compare and Pele has left the world in Awe to this Day.... Back Off the Man and Get a Life!

Yours Truly 3 weeks ago

What an article! It says a lot about the writer and his trend of thoughts. Messi may be a skillful player at the moment but any form of comparison now is a misinformed one and an insult to the football legends of old. All this babblings about Messi being better than or at par with Pele and Maradona is sheer nonesense. Just open your eyes and read between the lines. How would you feel if a British Common Wealth Boxing champ who has never held aany WBC title claims he is best in the world? you might say his boxing has affected his brain. Yes he might be a champ but until he is able to claim a world title, he can't just come out and say he is a world champ and anybody who says he is is a bootlicker wanting favours which they might never get. Messi being great in Europe, yes to a point not totally but talk about the world then forget it.Where would Messi be when there is a roll call of all world cup winners? Will he be there, or considered because of his Ballon De whatever or maybe he would also be chosen because he chipped a ball over a goal keeper's head which has been done countless of times - even by non professional footballers? Please think again.

Which one of you Messi lovers has not considered Brazil to be world cup favourites simply because they have won it several times and yet you say the opposition at that time was not strong enough? And FYI, the world cup has not lost its stand in football. If it has why are countries trying so hard to qualify for it? If you fail to give credit to the opponents of those legendary greats, then you might as well say Italy's defensive legend is also not recognised.

Just leave the poor boy alone and let the legends enjoy their legendary status.

Messi 3 weeks ago

Pele just boasting....

But messi not !

"UNDERSTOOD?"

Barca things 3 weeks ago

Give messi some few yrs den we can judge

Musa 3 weeks ago

Pele is much better than messi & maradona, ur reason judge based on current performance nt compared on past accient football. King pele is the best ever player of all time, since no 1 of those players can beat his 3 WC & 1283 goals scoring record,with dis i conclude he is the best player ever seen in this planet.

Dee 3 weeks ago

Legends are legends OF THEIR ERA and thus cannot be compared with one another. The only possible way of comparison is their statistics - and here Pele wins hands down! I hear way too many arguments about his playing a poor opposition while, in the same breath, the same people say he played way ahead of his time. Well, neither Maradona nor Messi has played way ahead of their time. They are legends, no doubt, but each in his own era. Pele played the best the world had to offer IN HIS TIME and he was by far the best then. His impact on the game can be measured by the fact that 40 years after his last world cup victory, he's still being mentioned as the best by MOST FANS of the game.

Of course, I'm a Pele fan. However, don't take my word for it; just look at his startling statistics. This legend, PELE, scored (forget about winning) in the world cup at the age of 17! If the 1962 Brazillian team were so good (as indeed they were), then Pele should be praised for being good enough to be included in that squad of greats at the tender age of 17.

By the way, your man Messi just missed an all-important penalty - again! His penalty success rate pales in comparison to Pele's.

Maradona should not even be mentioned - cheat ("hand of God"); drug addict; temperamental player. (I know, he was a legend, but he ruined it!)

PELE IS IT!!! O'Rei - the king of soccer.

Dee 3 weeks ago

Oops! Correction to "Dee" comment above - I meant Pele was 17 at the 1958 World Cup, not the 1962 World Cup.

Robert 2 weeks ago

After watching last two games with Barcelona,, Messi and Pele,, Messi is a laught.

Evang. SAR James 2 weeks ago

Leonel Messsi remains the best footballer soccer has ever seen and he is getting good, better and best each year and season. As a record breaker, this season he has 14 goals, 5 assists and 36 attempts on target all in UEFA championship this year and thus remained the youngest player ever to achieve this feet in UEFA all time history. You can find all the statistics here by logging onto: www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/statistics/index.html

His last two goals against Levante in La Liga saw him equal the English league record of 63 goals in a season set by Everton’s Dixie Dean back in 1927-28.

And beyond Dean, Messi could also challenge Ferenc Deak’s total of 66 goals scored for Hungarian side Ferencvaros during the 1948-49 season, Brazil legend Pele’s 66-goal tally for Santos in 1958 and Gerd Muller’s 67 with German giants Bayern Munich 1972-73

MESSI IS THE BEST!

Scotty_B 2 weeks ago

Perhaps the game has evolved and defence is better, but wouldn't Pele also benefit from that as well? He would be able to devote far more time to training, have team doctors/technology/modern coaching at his disposal and be able to train 5-6 days a week. How much greater would Pele or Maradonna be if given all that to start with?

playerpro 2 weeks ago

its funny 200 300 356 ..... pele=1367 lol pele is #1 champion of soccer

barca for life 2 weeks ago

pele is better than mess but not neymar. naymar is 100 miles

far from being compared to messi. just dont compare nemyar with messi.

you saw in club world cup that neymar was a big flop hardly he was able to break barca defence and valdes was hardly tested. neymar is least expirienced and cannot be compared to messi while he is playing in brazil. there is hardly any best team in south america. ao messi is far better than neymar. pele is jelous of messi so he says neymar is better than messi

Bla 2 weeks ago

Pele is and will always be the best player PEROID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! messi is great but not good enough!!!!!

Khalifa Majid 2 weeks ago

Messi Messi Messi. I have seen Pele, Maradona,but Messi is something else. There is no comparison to him. Period.

Honourable elton 2 weeks ago

Pele was great,messi is the greatest. Point. Who can testify that Pele scored a thousand plus goals, coz all the guys who followed him long died. Also, people were compelled to believe that pele is the greatest,coz he played his football during the black revolutionary.'you no what i mean. Messi is the greatest of all time. Number1 messi,number2 leo messi,number 3,messi again,number 7 ,maradona,number 8 maybe pele,number9.ronaldinho., well researched facts

joe 2 weeks ago

soccer evolves just like any other sport. for example basketball Pele = wilt chamberlain messi = jordan. 1960's dunks were unusual todays everyone dunks.

body building another sport evolve look at the 1960's body builders and todays. look at runners from 1960's to todays. More people have access to nutrition, better equipment and training techniques.

Gus 12 days ago

I cannot understand how can these two players can even be put in the same level? I had the privilige and pleasure of watching Pele (60s & 70s). Football is now a totally different animal. Back then it was a sport dominated by South America, and the European league was not even close to what is today. Messi is a very gifted player, no doubt about it, but comparing him to Pele is a sacrilege. Messi has been supported by one of the best teams in football history, but he has done terribly when playing with his native Argetinian team and in international games. Pele is still the greatest player ever...

Joe 12 days ago

Gus, in that case Wilt Chamberlain is better than jordan because he has better stats so you can't compare jordan to chamberlain

Pele did play with the best team at his time. Brasil even won a world cup with him in the bench.

ronaldo 10 days ago

messi is better than pele. he always talk about world cup now a days champion league is bigger than world cup so messi won three times. definetly messi is better than pele..............

Justine Joseph 9 days ago

Messi is a different player cos i have d privelage of watching him in this 21th century.so i can't compare him with anybody.So gudluck 2 him cos i'l5 keep on praying 4 him till he wins the world cup with other ARGENTINES.

mane 8 days ago

I am fortunate enough to have seen pele and those after him. there is no question in my mind that pele is the greatest of them all specially considering that playing soccer back then was much rougher without the protection enjoyed by modern players. messi is a very good player, shines with a talented team but outside of it he turns into a mediocre player uncapable of influencing the team as maradona did. no, messi is not even close to maradona and never mind pele.

Marcus 3 days ago

They are better,but not better than "Zizo" Zidane

Christian 2 days ago

It's unfair to compare athletes historically. For the same reason it is unfair to compare armies or empires historically. For example, today's weakest European nation could easily defeat the entire roman empire using modern techniques and weapons.

You could even argue without much trouble that any modern army can defeat any army from the late 1800s or early 1900s.

For the same token Pele cannot be compared to Messi. Pele is the equivalent to an Army of the 1800s or early 1900s.

What can you do then? You can compare Pele to his piers during the time he dominated. And here is the record:

Pele = 3 World Cups

Messi = 0 World Cups

Pele = Many awards and national championships in Brazil

Messi = Many awards and national championships in Europe

What has more value? The World Cup or many Awards.

Answer: The World Cup

Who is the greatest then? The one who wins the most world cups...

Larisa 23 hours ago

Ni Pele ni Maradonu Nelizya sravniti s Messi Pezhde vsego nado uchituvati ego luchshie kachestva kak chelovek chto imeet bolishoe xnachenie v futbole .on ne staraetsya pokazati sebya kak delayut nekotorue on igraet svoi futbol bez kotorogo ne mozhet zhiti poetomu on i yavlyaetsya samum luchim igrokom vo vse planete i vsex vremyen.Messi MessiMESSIi toliko Messi