Lionel Messi 'Close to Maradona' but 'Can't Be Compared to Pele,' Says Zico
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is "close" to matching fellow Argentinian Diego Maradona, but he can't be compared to Brazilian legend Pele, according to Zico.
Zico, who played 71 times for Brazil in the 1970s and 80s, said Pele had the whole package and nobody can compare to him, per Omnisport (h/t Ryan Benson of Goal):
"Messi is close to Maradona. That means, in my opinion, he can't be compared to Pele. I still consider Maradona in front of Messi. With Pele, no. Pele has all the qualities and characteristics that a football player has to have.
"When God created him [Pele], he put every quality a footballer needs; speed, strength, impulse, technique, kicking ability, heading, dribbling—all of it, everything that a player might have. Few people could jump like him for a header. He is 170 centimetres tall. His foundations are perfect, [he had] mastery of the ball, [and mastery of] headers. He improved in every way. Everything you can imagine from a player, Pele has done it."
Messi, 31, is one of the most decorated club footballers of all time, having won 32 major honours at Barcelona, including nine La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League crowns.
He has also won the FIFA Ballon d'Or five times, a joint-record with Cristiano Ronaldo, and boasts dozens of other individual accolades.
It is difficult to compare Messi's achievements with that of Maradona and Pele.
Not only did they play in different eras, but Pele also never played club football in Europe, representing Santos and New York Cosmos.
Maradona, meanwhile, played for a number of clubs in Argentina and Europe, most notably winning two Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup in his seven-year spell at Napoli.
Where the trio can be compared is their international achievements, where Messi, for once, fails to hold up.
Pele is a three-time FIFA World Cup winner with Brazil—in 1958, 1962 and 1970—and Maradona was Argentina's talisman as they won the tournament in 1986.
Messi has appeared in numerous major international finals, at the 2014 World Cup and 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copas America, but all he has to show for it is a handful of runners-up medals and the 2008 Olympic gold.
For Zico, it is this discrepancy that puts the Barcelona man at a level below Maradona and Pele, per Omnisport (h/t Benson):
"[Messi has] almost everything, but he doesn't have the World Cup titles that Pele has. This [means] a lot. Because, I think Maradona played, like in our period, with a player in his back all the time. Maradona has done a lot for his clubs, as Messi does, and for the Argentina national team. Maradona was a world champion.
"Maradona has always stood out in the big competitions, and in a moment where Argentina was not a favourite with so many stars, like today, [when they have] high-level players in the big European teams. I think he didn't play in a team like Messi plays in for Barcelona today. He didn't have a [Gerard] Pique, an [Andres] Iniesta, a [Luis] Suarez, a Xavi or a Neymar beside him like Messi has today."
Many will disagree with Zico's assessment, and with good reason.
Messi has reached unprecedented levels of consistency in the club game, along with Ronaldo posting staggering goalscoring numbers every season at the top level, even as they have entered their 30s:
There will always be those who question Messi's place as one of the best ever if he never wins a major tournament with Argentina.
But for most, he has been proving his supremacy on the pitch for more than a decade and is showing no sign of letting up.
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