By Toby Prince
Soccer legend, Pele, has reacted to the unending comparison between two Argentine football greats, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
Pele along with the aforementioned duo are considered the three greatest footballers in the history of the game despite playing in different generations.
And now the Brazilian has swiftly moved to balance such analogy picking World Cup winner, Maradona, as a more complete player than the current La Albiceleste skipper.
“Both are very good players. But the way I see football, Maradona was more complete than Messi,” Pele told NDTV Sports.
Messi has been heavily criticised for his inability to transform club exploits with Barcelona into national team success with Argentina – a feat achieved by Pele and Maradona during their playing days.
Although Pele believes each generation is blessed with a rare talent, his native Brazil produces such players in every generation.
“It is normal that after one generation of good players, then the next generation is not the same. The exception is Brazil. But unfortunately now we have a problem there. Now almost all the Brazilian players play in Europe
“To have one good player you need to have a team. Nobody plays alone, you need to have some good players in your side. So to set up a team it’s very difficult.
“When you talk about Brazil, we produce the best players. The best players playing now in Europe are form Brazil. Unfortunately for us it’s not too good.”
In 1999, Pele was elected World Player of the Century as well as athlete of the century by both FIFA and the IOC and was also named by Time in the list of 100 most influential people in the 20th century.
The 74-year-old won three FIFA World Cup trophies over his 14-year career with the Selecao.
