Who is the best player in history: Pelé, Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi? Since Argentina’s coronation at the World Cup, the question has arisen.
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After winning the last major title missing from his list, Messi is reshuffling the cards in this debate that has rocked the world of football for thirty years. Here are some comparative items to try to answer this difficult question.
Triple Crown against the 1986 and 2022 champions
With three titles (1958, 1962, 1970) at four world championships, Pelé’s record remains unmatched. He was just under 17 when he led the Seleçao to the first crown (youngest world champion in history) with six goals, including two in the final. In 1962 he injured himself in the second game. But in 1970 it was the consecration: Pelé was in top form in a legendary team.
Maradona, ignored at the 1978 World Cup won by Argentina at home, then disappointing in 1982, shone at the 1986 edition in Mexico. He wins it “all alone”, so charismatic and decisive is the captain of Argentina, especially in the quarter-final game against England, which is marked by the “goal of the century” single-handedly and the famous “hand of God”, the two sides of the “Maradonian” work .
In 1990 he lost the final and burst into tears. In 1994, things turned sour: declared positive for ephedrine, he was banned from the World Cup.
World champion on December 18, Messi has finally come full circle. His record is now the most complete with a World Cup (2022), a Copa America (2021), four Champions Leagues, a multitude of leagues and national cups… and seven Ballons d’Or.
“Messi won his first World Cup, as his career deserves,” Pelé had also greeted from his hospital room on Instagram, with a nod to Maradona, who died in 2020: “Diego is sure to smile.”
Number 10 against number 10
The three players have made the number 10 mythical.
Pelé played in a very scoring era in a position close to a nine-and-a-half, leaning to the left (Friendlies and FIFA-approved). He now shares the Brazilian side’s top scorer (77 goals in 92 caps) with Neymar.
Maradona, he developed more at the back, in the axis or on the left, but was very free, like a very offensive playmaker. Hence a less impressive goal stats than Pelé (346 in 680 games) but such a significant influence accompanied by countless assists.
The tally of goals (793 in 1003 professional games) allows Messi to look his two eldest in the eye. Aligned mostly in attacking support but sometimes in the wrong nine, Messi can also boast a great deal of success in free-kicks, penalties and assists.
Characters at the antipodes
Always presenting a slick image, Pelé only played for two clubs, Santos (1956-74) and New York Cosmos (1975-77). Maradona (six club experiences) is more explosive, with his shocking statements, his controversial gestures on the pitch, from his red card at the 1982 World Cup to his ‘hand of God’ at the 1986 World Cup, and his extra-sport altercations, between cocaine and doping .
The Brazilian, who was a minister in his country and close to the institutions, shed tears of emotion when FIFA presented him with an honorary Ballon d’Or in 2014. The Argentine has controversial friendships with heads of state Cuba or Venezuela, on the contrary, has long been at odds with FIFA since his suspension in the middle of the 1994 World Cup.
Messi’s wise childhood side brings him closer to Pelé. The little Argentinian was loyal to his training club, FC Barcelona, for a long time before a brilliant move to PSG in 2021. But neither this choice for the money of a club financed by Qatar, nor his anger with the Spanish tax authorities nor his criticism of refereeing at the 2022 World Cup did not seem to damage his image.
Brazilians vs Argentines, ego issues
Pelé and Maradona have continued to claim the title of best player in a rivalry traditionally pitted against their South American giants. It is particularly the Vulcan Maradona who tickles his elder, for example by considering that his place is “in the museum” and by poking fun at his submission to the ruling powers. The serene Pelé replies that the price list is authentic (three world championships in one), but also that his younger brother’s drug use is “not a role model” for the youth. Like wise old men, they buried the hatchet in 2016.
Perhaps for fear of offending Maradona’s Argentine fans, Messi has never explicitly positioned himself in this debate aimed at appointing the best player in history. But he’s the only one alive now.
– WITH AFP