Pele: The most famous player in the world, definitely not the greatest?
Image courtesy of uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
It was very interesting to read some quotes yesterday that Pele doesn’t believe Lionel Messi is the greatest ever player. The Brazilian who is ranked up there as the best ever, claims the Argentine is nowhere near as good as himself….. Maradona was also overrated in his opinion. I DID check the date of the newspaper and it was dated as Monday the 14th and not April the 1st. In his defence, he did champion the likes of Cruyff and Zidane as his favourites, but I’m still not buying this self promotion that the Brazilian insists upon. By dismissing what is widely regarded as, at very least, his equals out of hand, it only leaves one player left to consider. Pele.
Is this clever or bitter? His whiter than white image projects him as the favourite of the masses, but having never played at the top-level over a long season in Europe, this leaves a major blot in his copybook. When his “expert ” eye watches over the likes Messi and Maradona he is fiercely critical of them. These are players who have reached the very top of their profession in the most competitive leagues in the world. Pele stayed in Brasil until an offer he could not refuse in the USA was on the table.
I find it more than a little odd that his misguided judgement doesn’t even consider legends such as Di Stefano or Puskas. These recent comments are of little surprise to me, as I’ve read such similar tripe from the three times world champion. Isn’t it about time that we stop wheeling out the same old rubbish from great ex players promoting a product? Ah, and there lies the answer. A little Controversy to sell a product perhaps? Either way, in my opinion the self-proclaimed “best player in the world……. ever” is lagging behind both Maradona and Messi. I still struggle with the order of the top two though.
Football Orphan 