Pelé has the personality, Pelé is loved by everyone, Pelé hasn't messed up his life, Pelé has won the most World Cups, scored the most goals, won the most prizes..I can go on till tomorrow.
HOWEVER, judging Maradona SOLELY as a soccerplayer, he is the best ever! Players can't be measured by trophies won. Is Teddy Sheringham a better striker than Batistuta just because he has won much more trophies and scored in a Champions League final?
This discussion about Pelé and Maradona can't be fair. The two didn't play in the same era. Pelé was at his peak in the 60's, Maradona in the 80's. Pelé was a striker, Maradona more an offensive midfielder or link between midfield and attack. Therefore is the point about Pelé scoring 1200 goals compared to Maradona's 300 (or something) totally irrelevant when comparing the two.
Maradona's skill, balance, large workarea (which he actually had in his prime), close control, vision and left foot has not been matched by anyone. He dedicated his career to a mediocre club (No offense, Napoli fans), made them league and cup champions as well as an UEFA cup title. Today this club is in Serie B.
Ronaldo is regarded as the coming legend of today's soccer. Many plan to rank him up there with Pelé in 10 years time if he ever comes back from injury again. Can you imagine Ronaldo play for say...Perugia and make them champions? Of course not. It's not possible. A striker needs to be backed up by a good midfield in order to score many goals. Pelé had plenty of that in his time.
Maradona has certainly created many black spots on his reputation after all the scandals. Sad, but I will always remember him as the greatest SOCCERPLAYER ever. Not most winning, not most scoring, but in terms of ABILITY as a player. The number one player.
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