@Eastbay THANKS. I LOVE TO HEAR EXPERIENCED PEOPLE SAY SOMETHING.

@Eastbay THANKS FOR THE INFO. VERY EXPERIENCED

Pele is has a point. But must the greatest player be a striker? Messi can be the greatest even if doesnt score up to 1,000 goals

We have to stop hiding in the shadows of these outdated methodologies; Pele played football when it was 'damn' easy. Look at today's football and how competitive it can be. So many factors make football so hard now; pressure, die-hard defenders, profit minded club owners, off-side rules (which hardly existed during Pele's playing time), diversity of players from different parts of the world to play in a club and of all, the media.

Messi possess all it takes to be the greatest player ever. If Pele can’t admit and accept the basic fact now that Messi is just 22, in 3 years time, Pele will be running away from the media. The greatest player, Messi, has come to stay and to take the world's most popular sports to another level.

All things being equal, both the past and present, Messi is the greatest footballer ever.

No doubt. Messi is the best player of all time. Having grown up watching the likes of zidane, admittedly I was never lucky enough to see Maradona or Pele in their prime and whilst i am aware of their amazing goal scoring records and achievements, messi is only 22 and I'd say he's the greatest to ever play the game. We will know more in 2-5 years time but i know now, Messi is the best!!!

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said of the Barcelona playmaker: "Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace. He's a PlayStation player."

Diego Maradona, Argentina's World Cup coach, said: Lionel Messi is "playing a kick-about with Jesus. People always debate if I (Maradona) or Pele is the best player in soccer history. I told the world, I have done my thing. I told Messi I'd done my thing, now he has to make his career, and at the end we'll see who was the greatest of all time. I know in few years time, people will stop asking who is the best between Pele and me. Messi is on the right path. He's mature and full of will and will soon end the long standing debate."

No doubt Messi is a great player but he ain't gonna do a shit at the world cup.

mama-gee:

The main point is Messi didn't deserve the award he received.

He deserve more than the award right?

honeric01:

most of his goals were scored in the world cup/qualifiers/nations cup and friendlies.

Against teams that played 2-3-5 as opposed to today's 4-5-1? The equivalent of Pele in our game today is Robinho

pele or what did he call his name should shut his dirty mouth against messi from inception i have also known this stupid fellow to be an idiot who is he to talk,as far as am concern messi is still the greatest football of all time.if he pele is having grudges against maradona or argentine teams pls let him keep off from my  :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x magical messi,

smile4kenn:

No doubt. Messi is the best player of all time. Having grown up watching the likes of zidane, admittedly I was never lucky enough to see Maradona or Pele in their prime and whilst i am aware of their amazing goal scoring records and achievements, messi is only 22 and I'd say he's the greatest to ever play the game. We will know more in 2-5 years time but i know now, Messi is the best!!!

Too early to judge.
Pele went to his first world cup at 17
He was crucial to the team's success in that compeition Sweden 1958)

Kratos007:

Maradona NEVER won a world cup single handedly. In the mexico 86 final, the winning goal was scored by burruchaga. And it is debatable if pele was greater than maradona. Afterall, Maradona seems to top most of the polls between the two. The official FIFA poll has it as a tie between the two of them.
    someone mentioned messi as not being as good as johan cryuff. Matey are you having a laugh. Even the great man himself admits that he can only dream about being able to do what messi does now. Typical blinkered fans, with none of you ever having watched a pele game live. is it those cheesy old school betamax videos of muscled men in tight shorts you want to use to judge? What was Maradona doing at Messi's age? Getting sent off in the world cup?

Please watch the semi final against Belgium at Mexico 86
I even would have scored playing beside Maradona on that ocassion
The man was providing unbelievable chances
The Argentine team in 86 was called Maradona and 10 men
Batistuta (you may recall that he scored against Nigeria in 2002) who eventually became a legend with Fiorentina wa sin th 86 team
Nobody new him then

Eastbay:

Ibime,
Stop being unnecessarily diversionary.
Fact remains Pele won three world cups.In 62,He was injured,but in 1970,he was the teams driving force.Watch ESPN's Classic world cup players and you'll see the outrageous goal attempts he made against Czechoslovakia and Uruguay.Things nobody at the time even dreamt of doing.
Let Messi win one,and then the arguments can begin.He's not regarded as the best  ever even in his native Argentina.The fact that he's the best in the world at this moment is not enough to call him the greatest ever.
Club football is not suffiecient in itself to crown a player the best in the world.

Thanks for the information
Actually Pele was injured in 1966 not in 1962
and that was the only world cup he participated in and did not win
He played all through in 58, 62 and 70

LAFOCUZY:

I don't think pele was envious by his comments. If pele scored 1000 goals in his days. Chances are that he may have scored more today. Football has improved significantly. Training session involves simulations and all sorts. Pele didn't have access to all these, no big money involved. These, all things being equal would have enhanced his performance. He shears the same calm and humble personnality as Messi. He also commended messi.

People are different in their own ways.

If you have been following Pele's comments on this matter
He has said neither Maradona nor him is the best player ever
He gave that honour to one Argentine (later Spaniard), Alfredo Di Stefano, who played in the 1940s - 50s

Did Pele realy scored 1,280 goals?

How is that possible, abi na handball

Dont let us get Pele wrong, he said Messi is not doing well for the country. He didn't say he is not the best. He is only laying emphasis on his country.

Yeah,Pele is very very correct,let Messi measure up on that info.
Altho he is doing very fine at his age.

because back then it was difficult to have foreign based players,let alone South American players in Europe,so it wasn't his fault.Messi isn't even as good as Johan Cruyff.Pele (from my old man's Betamax video clips) still remains

Alfredo Di Stefano played for Madrid
Miguel Nunoz the same

If you ask a true Brazilian they would say Garrincha is the best player ever from Brazil

@Smile4kenn
Being a Barcelona fan is most probably your driving factor that Messi is the best ever in football history. Am not soccer historian, but if you've ever watch soccer legends of the past playing at their prime time, you would've spared your keyboard the hits you gave it while typing those numerous replies here.

We all know that Messi is a wonderful player but is toooooo immature calling him the best ever, as if football started yesterday.

Eastbay,


Pele himself never singlehandedly win a world cup he was just part of the team.

In 1958 he was a 17yr old and Didi, Zagalo and Vava were greater than him in the Brazilian set up

In 1962 it was Garrinchas world cup with help from Zito and Vava. Only 2 players can be said to have won the world cup single handedly Garrincha 1962 and Maradona 1986

1970 was an all star team, Jaizinho, Carlos Alberto, Tostao, Gerson.

The Pele talk reminds me of old men in Nigeria who would always say "In the days of Odegbami and thunder Balogun" Football of those days are not technical at all, nothing like tactics, Its basically everybody enter the field. It was reported that the Brazilian team of 1982 even the keeper can dribble.

Pele na Bad belle dey worry am SIMPLE!!!! And anything pele says should be taken opposite. he say an African country winning the world cup before the end of last Century and it never happened, He saw godwin okpara winning Player of the year: the guy dey jail now, He said Nicky Butt and Emile Heskey would be the players of the tourney of japan Korea 2002 and they were dud throughout

Scolari once said If you are preparing a team, Ask for Peles advice and do the exact opposite. Anyone Pele recommends as striker should be the goalkeeper and anyone he says would be the star should be dropped!!!

truly:

Thanks for the information
Actually Pele was injured in 1966 not in 1962
and that was the only world cup he participated in and did not win
He played all through in 58, 62 and 70If you have been following Pele's comments on this matter

boo. . . . Pele only played 2 group matches in 1962. . .


@ topic,

In an era where players used to run 5km per game, there was enough space for players like Pele to cop a humongous amount of goals.

Let Pele come and play in this era where players run 12km per game (thus limiting space, and consequently chances), where teams play with 2 defensive midfielders and 4 defenders. . . . lets see whether Pele would be able to score 400 goals, talkless of 1000.

The old man should go and sleep abeg.

Listen folks, we are arguing blindly cuz we were not in pele era. pEOPLE born during his era will tell u its pele cuz they saw him play. those who got introduced to soccer in the '80's will tell u its the handball man maradona. we go support messi cuz we see him play live. lets give messi one more YEAR, haha, e go be like a deflated ronaldinho. the guy just dey im peak now.

Pele himself never singlehandedly win a world cup he was just part of the team.

In 1958 he was a 17yr old and Didi, Zagalo and Vava were greater than him in the Brazilian set up

u know he scored "two" goals in the finals against sweden, right? and he was just SEVENTEEN years old. maradona as an U-21 still couldn't make argentina 1st team for 1978 WC n flopped bad 4 yrs later in 82

In 1962 it was Garrinchas world cup with help from Zito and Vava. Only 2 players can be said to have won the world cup single handedly Garrincha 1962 and Maradona 1986

you know maradona was marked out of the final game against germany right? so, if players like burrachager n valdano didn't rise up to the occassion they would probably have lost 2-0 to germany, or wats ur definition of "single handedly"

1970 was an all star team, Jaizinho, Carlos Alberto, Tostao, Gerson.

so?

The Pele talk reminds me of old men in Nigeria who would always say "In the days of Odegbami and thunder Balogun" Football of those days are not technical at all, nothing like tactics, Its basically everybody enter the field. It was reported that the Brazilian team of 1982 even the keeper can dribble.

n where did u get this fable from? i can send u links to videos of 82 world cup n u'd be surprised to find out how play level in WC football has actually deteriorated the last few years

Pele na Bad belle dey worry am SIMPLE!!!!

hmm, how can he have bad belle for someone he's far higher than. messi is not even yet near the level of argentinian greats like mario kempes, maradona n even batistuta talkless of world greats like cryuff, zico, platini etc pele won THREE world cup wit Brazil n Messi is just starting talkless of to be put in the same sentence as pele. great players like george best dominated club football but dat dont put in on the top list of greatest in history. even gullit n van basten who dominated both club football n won european cups dont put them no where close to the top 10 cos of poor WORLD STAGE performance. Wait for Messi to accomplish sumthin tangible b4 u start to yap rubbish

And anything pele says should be taken opposite. he say an African country winning the world cup before the end of last Century and it never happened, He saw godwin okpara winning Player of the year: the guy dey jail now, He said Nicky Butt and Emile Heskey would be the players of the tourney of japan Korea 2002 and they were dud throughout

Scolari once said If you are preparing a team, Ask for Peles advice and do the exact opposite. Anyone Pele recommends as striker should be the goalkeeper and anyone he says would be the star should be

and is Pele a coach or suppose to be a soothsayer?

Anyone who doubts whether pele is the greatest player ever probably startted watching football in the early 90s.
Pele tops all time goal scoring charts
Pele tops all time assists
Pele won 3 world cups
Pele was so popular that Queen broke protocol to shake him, Shah of Iran waited 6 hours at Heathrow airport to meet him, the Nigerian civil war took a break so he could play in an exhibition match in Lagos.

Maradone won only one world cup. He was red-carded in Espana 82, a shadow of himself in 1990, and disgraced in 1994 after taking drugs in the match against the Eagles. At 17, Pele was winning a world cup. Compare Maradona at his prime in 1990 (age 29) with Pele at his prime in 1970 (age 29) and you know that Pele was a better player.

As for Messi, let him win even one world cup before we start to make comparisons with the legends. People who knew nothing about football were saying the same thing about Ronaldo in the 90s. Now where is Ronaldo? Soon Messi will fade away but everyone who knows football will always remember Pele.

For those who say football is hard now, please go and watch old videos and see footballers finishing games with a couple of teeth knocked out, broken bones, etc. Who remembers Beckenbauer finishing the semi-final of the 1970 WC against Italy with a discolated shoulder?

Abeg pele shuld allow messi do his thing.black n white days is difrent from nw.

dayokanu:

Eastbay,


Pele himself never singlehandedly win a world cup he was just part of the team.

In 1958 he was a 17yr old and Didi, Zagalo and Vava were greater than him in the Brazilian set up

In 1962 it was Garrinchas world cup with help from Zito and Vava. Only 2 players can be said to have won the world cup single handedly Garrincha 1962 and Maradona 1986

1970 was an all star team, Jaizinho, Carlos Alberto, Tostao, Gerson.

The Pele talk reminds me of old men in Nigeria who would always say "In the days of Odegbami and thunder Balogun" Football of those days are not technical at all, nothing like tactics, Its basically everybody enter the field. It was reported that the Brazilian team of 1982 even the keeper can dribble.

Pele na Bad belle dey worry am SIMPLE!!!! And anything pele says should be taken opposite. he say an African country winning the world cup before the end of last Century and it never happened, He saw godwin okpara winning Player of the year: the guy dey jail now, He said Nicky Butt and Emile Heskey would be the players of the tourney of japan Korea 2002 and they were dud throughout

Scolari once said If you are preparing a team, Ask for Peles advice and do the exact opposite. Anyone Pele recommends as striker should be the goalkeeper and anyone he says would be the star should be dropped!!!

It is obvious that you do not like Pele. Is it possible for one player to win a game single-handedly talkless of a tournament? Garrincha was solid in 62 but he had the help of Zito. Could Maradona have won the WC without Burruchaga?

Whatever Pele said were just opinions, it shouldn't remove from his achievements as a player.

smile4kenn:

We have to stop hiding in the shadows of these outdated methodologies; Pele played football when it was 'damn' easy. Look at today's football and how competitive it can be. So many factors make football so hard now; pressure, die-hard defenders, profit minded club owners, off-side rules (which hardly existed during Pele's playing time), diversity of players from different parts of the world to play in a club and of all, the media.

Messi possess all it takes to be the greatest player ever. If Pele can’t admit and accept the basic fact now that Messi is just 22, in 3 years time, Pele will be running away from the media. The greatest player, Messi, has come to stay and to take the world's most popular sports to another level.

All things being equal, both the past and present, Messi is the greatest footballer ever.

Ibime:

@ topic,

In an era where players used to run 5km per game, there was enough space for players like Pele to cop a humongous amount of goals.

Let Pele come and play in this era where players run 12km per game (thus limiting space, and consequently chances), where teams play with 2 defensive midfielders and 4 defenders. . . . lets see whether Pele would be able to score 400 goals, talkless of 1000.

The old man should go and sleep abeg.

Sorry but how old are you? when did you start watching football? saying football was damn easy in the old days, you are joking right? in the old days, goal keepers were allowed to catch backpasses, there was nothing like extra time, if a match ends in a draw, there must be a rematch, the ball was harder, the boots were of inferior qualities, no gym facilities, if you are not warm up, all had to be done manually by running around a whole city, there was no ER like we have now, no facilities to put you back in shape like we have now, karate, kung fu, wrestling and all that was a norm in football back then, why would you compare the "war" style of football to ajebutter type of football we watch today? please go back and start watching classic football, you lot have alot to learn about the genesis of football.

It's a sad day when someone can truly believe that Pele played when soccer was easy; look at the old footage and tell me that those men didn't play with heart. Today, the sport isn't about bragging rights anymore but about how to get the largest contract; I don't knock the hustle but c'mon, son. Comparing Messi to Pele is like comparing Justin Bieber to Michael Jackson: ridiculous and premature.

They said the same thing about Ronaldinho, where is he today? Not even relevant to be called into the Brazillian team. Let's give Messi the chance to really prove himself before we start calling him the greatest! Can he continue to play at the topmost level the way Zidane did even to the point of retirement?

@DK,
Leave Scolari's opinion of Pele.Your assesment should be of the footballer.
We're talking Pele the player,the one named The King while playing.
In 1958 he was good enough to
a)make Brazil's world cup squad (at 17 years)
b)score twice in the final at the same competition.
In 1970,I still restate that Pele was the heart and soul of that squad.His goal attempts were out of this world.
When was the first world cup that had substitutes and yellow cards.1970.Before then,you could get kicked off the field and nothing would happen.If you finished with 8 men,your luck.That's one reason why footie was so hard then.Ask Pele how it felt to be kicked off the pitch in 1966 first by Hungary and then Portugal,so much so they didn't make it past the group stage.When you think about it,I guess you'll reconsider your notion that football then was easier than now.
Even if he didn't win the trophy all by himself,till Messi wins the World cup,for me there is no need to argue.
Messi is ordinary without Xavi and /or Iniesta.Check his performances at national team level and see the reason why most Nigerians are optimistic he won't harm us in SA (though I think he will).

VALIDATOR:

I agree that Pele sounded jealous but you will probably feel the same way if in 30 years time a youngster who scores 203 in Jamb is declared the brightest naija kid ever just because all others are scoring below 170.

True talk dude. Messi good no doubt, but u can't deny Pele also.

honeric01:

Sorry but how old are you? when did you start watching football? saying football was damn easy in the old days, you are joking right? in the old days, goal keepers were allowed to catch backpasses, there was nothing like extra time, if a match ends in a draw, there must be a rematch, the ball was harder, the boots were of inferior qualities, no gym facilities, if you are not warm up, all had to be done manually by running around a whole city, there was no ER like we have now, no facilities to put you back in shape like we have now, karate, kung fu, wrestling and all that was a norm in football back then, why would you compare the "war" style of football to ajebutter type of football we watch today? please go back and start watching classic football, you lot have alot to learn about the genesis of football.

Save the fairytales abeg. . . . there was a lot more space for strikers in the old days, thats why matches regularly end up 7-3, 5-2, 8-1 etc. . .  .

No striker in the modern era can score the amount of goals those old guys did cos space is simply at a premium cos players run more than double the distance they used to, thus closing up any space. . .

Till infinity, no one will ever outscore Just Fontaine who scored 13 goals in 1958 World Cup or Gerd Mullers 10 goals in 1970. . . . thats how easy it was to score those days, so please save your "Thunder Balogun" stories about football being a difficult game in the old days. . . .

honeric01:

Sorry but how old are you? when did you start watching football? saying football was damn easy in the old days, you are joking right? in the old days, goal keepers were allowed to catch backpasses, there was nothing like extra time, if a match ends in a draw, there must be a rematch, the ball was harder, the boots were of inferior qualities, no gym facilities, if you are not warm up, all had to be done manually by running around a whole city, there was no ER like we have now, no facilities to put you back in shape like we have now, karate, kung fu, wrestling and all that was a norm in football back then, why would you compare the "war" style of football to ajebutter type of football we watch today? please go back and start watching classic football, you lot have alot to learn about the genesis of football.

Football of today is totally more advance to that of pele's. A lot of correction and upgrade had been made so people like pele would score free and easy goals. Try and watch old clips on youtube and then watch clips of Zidane, messi, ronaldihno, ronaldo and tell me the difference, that should be your homework for today.