Preposterous Pele: Neymar Is Nifty but Messi Is the Man

"Now everyone is talking about Messi; he is a star. But [to be the best ever] he must first become better than Neymar," Pele said. "At the moment Messi is just more experienced."

Whoa, Pele. First of all, let's start by acknowledging that Pele is perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time. However, his Brazilian blood is causing a crazy bias by him believing that Neymar is greater than the Argentinian, Lionel Messi.

Neymar is an up and coming talent—there is no way around it. He has dazzled Brazilian fans and shown that he could be the next best thing. But there is the problem: He could be the next best thing, but Messi has proven that he is the best soccer player on the planet.

He must first become better than Neymar, Pele? Let's take a look into that. A mere four years separate Messi and Neymar, so and age 24 and 20, respectively, they are both young stars and comparing their stats would be reasonable.

Messi debuted on Barcelona's first team at age 16. He has since scored scored over 235 career goals, breaking Cesear Rodriguez's club record. Neymar has scored over 110 goals for his club Santos.

Messi made his club debut in 2003, Neymar made his in 2009. Messi plays internationally for Argentina, Neymar for Brazil. Pele cannot be trying to get in a 21st-century Maradona vs Pele debate, can he?

Regardless, Messi has played soccer at a very high level in Spain's La Liga. The La Liga has long been considered one of the world's premier leagues. Neymar plays in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, Brazil's top league.

Messi has produced at a high level for a longer period of time against harder competition than Neymar. And time can be compared because when Messi was in his late teens like Neymar, he was across the sea playing for one of the world's best clubs.

To top it off, Messi has scored 22 goals in 67 games for Argentina, and he captains the country. He has scored five goals in a Champions League game. He has been the Champion League's leading scorer for three consecutive seasons and soon-to-be four. He has won three World Player of the Year awards, and he's only 24!

Sorry Pele, you have it completely backwards. Until Neymar can go to Europe and play against strong competition, he can't even be compared to Messi. Heck, until he can put up Messi numbers and be as productive as Messi is on a regular basis, there is no point in trying to say Neymar is better than Messi.

Neymar needs to grow as a player because he has the potential to be world class. He is a great player who needs to venture off into greater competition than what Brazil has to offer if he wants to improve his game. And though Messi has more experience because he is four years older, he was already better than Neymar was at age 20 and he went elsewhere to prove himself.

So this goes out to you, Pele. To be the best, Neymar must first prove that he is better than Lionel Messi. And it just isn't going to happen.