Two-time World Cup winner Pele admits he would choose Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo if he was to pick between the two superstars.
According to The Statesman, the ex-Brazil international weighed in on the ongoing debate over who is the world’s greatest player when speaking at a leadership summit on Friday, as he told reporters: “If I have to decide for my team I will choose Messi over Ronaldo.
“Difficult to compare Messi and Ronaldo. Messi has a completely different style than Ronaldo.
“Lots of people compared me with George Best but we had a different style of play.
“Ronaldo is more of a centre-forward while Messi is more organised.”
Pele is widely considered to be one of the best footballers in the history of the game himself, along with Messi’s fellow countryman Diego Maradona, who also managed to win two World Cups.
Messi is Barcelona and Argentina’s all-time record goalscorer, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner and a four-time Champions League winner. The 31-year-old also has nine La Liga titles to his name, along with a whole host of other major honours.
Ronaldo meanwhile, is Real Madrid and Portugal’s all-time record goalscorer and a 5-time Champions League winner. He now plies his trade in Italy with Juventus after moving to Serie A this summer and also has five Ballon d’Or wins under his belt.
There is little to separate either man in terms of success on a team or individual basis, but Messi is generally considered to be the more gifted, with his radar-like vision and magical dribbling ability which has wowed fans across the world for well over a decade.
Ronaldo is a goalscoring machine and the best in the business at what he does, but many experts are likely to agree with Pele’s comments if pushed into choosing a favourite.
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The debate will rage on for as long as they both continue playing and we can surely all look forward to many more wonderful moments from these two master’s of their craft over the next few years.