Originally Posted by
Stavros
Hard to take this seriously. Pele is without question the best player of the 20th century, most lovers of football would agree with that even when you plea for the best goalie, the best defender and so on -it is not just three world cup winners medals, it is the way in which he transformed football from being a national to a global sport. It is difficult on one level to compare him to Messi -an abject failure at the World Cup not once, but twice- because Pele was banned by the military government in Brazil from playing in Europe whereas Messi's reputation is based solely on his club game for which he was won more awards than Pele.
As for Ronaldo, a truly great player, consider this: Marcus Rashford at the same stage of their United careers has already scored more goals than Ronaldo. Will he continue to become an even better player than Ronaldo? He has already reached a World Cup semi-final, which Ronaldo has not. But who knows?
And Maradona? -a fantastic talent laid low by cheating.