Brazilian legend, Pele claims that all talk of Lionel Messi being the greatest player in the world must stop until the Argentine scores his 1000th career goal.

Pele, has given some advice to Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi , with the Argentinean being hailed as one of the greatest players of all time.

"They are always trying to compare someone to Pele," he said.

"I always joke with my Argentine friends that they must first choose who is the best player from Argentina.”

"Then, when one of them scores a thousand goals, then we can start talking."

However, the three-time World Cup winner did lavish praise upon the current FIFA World Player of the Year.

"Messi did not win the World Player award [in 2007], but I remember that I said to him, 'you'll be the next'," he said.

"It took a little longer, but he eventually won. He's a great player.”

"He plays very well for Barcelona, but has failed to show his talent with the Argentina team. Maybe he can at the World Cup. Let's wait and see.''

The former Brazil number 10 famously scored 1,280 goals in 1,363 games whilst Messi so far has 133 goals in his short career.

http://www.soccerway.com/news/2010/April/13/pele-demands-1000-goals-from-messi/

The man has a point

I don't think I want to compare the level of football in Pele's days to today's football.
Am not taking anything away from Pele as a Legend in football but he should guard against sounding jealous
and allow other people to talk instead of himself.

If Pele's footballing career were to be now am not sure he can score as much as 1000 goals even the great Maradona
that came after him couldn't score that much because the game has further developed when he came.

All things being equal, both the past and present, Messi is the greatest footballer ever

smile4kenn:

All things being equal, both the past and present, Messi is the greatest footballer ever

Hmm well said but maybe you should wait a little because Messi has not even started he is just 22years

"He plays very well for Barcelona, but has failed to show his talent with the Argentina team. Maybe he can at the World Cup. Let's wait and see.''

Trouble for Nigeria

Pele is just bitter, he wouldnt say that if Messi was Brazilian,

Pele never played in Europe to really test himself

@deb

 Football in the old days was harder than what we have now, then there was no referees shielding strikers against dangerous tackles, you could get tackled once and that might end your career as a footballer, do you know how many players broke their legs at an early age playing football in the old days?

 Stop comparing the old time way of playing football with now because now's very easy compared to the old age. (if you doubt me, try watching classic football dated from 1960s to 1990s.

omar22:

Pele is just bitter, he wouldnt say that if Messi was Brazilian,

Pele never played in Europe to really test himself

He did not have to play in Europe. How many world cup events did Pele play in?

Am not comparing here  . .just saying Pele not playing in Europe did not really matter at the time.

Messi still has Diego Maradona to beat as Argentina's greatest footballer.

NSNA:

Trouble for Nigeria

We're sending a bunch of kidnappers to SA2010 just for that purpose.  

see . . those thugs have a purpose in life as well.

Pele is an egomaniac. He should go and sit his jealous self somewhere.

Is it goals he scored in Sao Paulo State Championships and North American Soccer League that he wants to count as 1000 goals? Maga!

a lot of the so-called 1000 goals pele scored were in meaningless friendlies like pele XI vs Brazil selected XI. Also against weaker defenders with no offside rule in place. i dont know about this guy pele, just some random grainy old videos we see on youtube and on teevee. All i know is that in my lifetime, i have had the opportunity to watch some great footballers, Ronaldo(the real one), Zidane, Ronaldinho, Henry, Roberto Baggio, Romario, now the other ronaldo(the cry baby) and messi. And i know true artistry when i see it. messi may or may not be the greatest ever player to have graced a football pitch, but i damn well know that for years to come, he will have people clapping and marvelling at the masterclass of talent he has. Oh, btw, pele has always been known to talk shite.

I agree that Pele sounded jealous but you will probably feel the same way if in 30 years time a youngster who scores 203 in Jamb is declared the brightest naija kid ever just because all others are scoring below 170.

kokoye:

He did not have to play in Europe. How many world cup events did Pele play in?
Am not comparing here  . .just saying Pele not playing in Europe did not really matter at the time.

Pele played in four world cups and won three of them.No one has managed that before or after him.
Pele didn't need to play in Europe,because back then it was difficult to have foreign based players,let alone South American players in Europe,so it wasn't his fault.Messi isn't even as good as Johan Cruyff.Pele (from my old man's Betamax video clips) still remains the best player ever.
Messi will find it difficult because the present Argentina team has no Xavi to make him look good.I think claims of him (Messi) being called the greatest ever are over-rated/too early.He hasn't even won the World Cup yet. . .

^^^ Thank you ojare.

Messi should go and win at least one world cup (self -handedly sp?) to even be compared to Maradona . . talk less of Pele.

Messi has played top footbal in only one club,only one league and the notion of world best ever is coming up.
Why dont lets rate this guy when he tries at least 3 or 4 different leagues?

Ronaldinho made the best player when he was in barca,what is his world rating today in Italian league?
3 yrs from now,will messi be making waves unlike Pele that was a household name for decades?
Messi's rating is simply premature.

VALIDATOR:

Messi still has Diego Maradona to beat as Argentina's greatest footballer.

Agreed. . .he hasn't even had a decent outing in an Argentine national team shirt.

Ibime:

Pele is an egomaniac. He should go and sit his jealous self somewhere.

Is it goals he scored in Sao Paulo State Championships and North American Soccer League that he wants to count as 1000 goals? Maga!

most of his goals were scored in the world cup/qualifiers/nations cup and friendlies.

I aint too much into soccer but I know Pele and Maradona. Who the hell is Messi where those two are mentioned?

Even Kanu Nwankwo wrecked the almighty Brazil when it mattered . . . 3 goals down in a global event.

Kanu made the Brazillians cry . . literarily


SA2010 will determine if Messi is a force to be reckoned with.

Eastbay:

Pele played in four world cups and won three of them.No one has managed that before or after him.
Pele didn't need to play in Europe,because back then it was difficult to have foreign based players,let alone South American players in Europe,so it wasn't his fault.Messi isn't even as good as Johan Cruyff.Pele (from my old man's Betamax video clips) still remains the best player ever.
Messi will find it difficult because the present Argentina team has no Xavi to make him look good.I think claims of him (Messi) being called the greatest ever are over-rated/too early.He hasn't even won the World Cup yet. . .

True talk

No footballer will dominate football the way Pele did in the past. Let's face it; if it was the past, Rooney will be knocking at the door of World MVP by mow. But the quality is so high now that it is difficult for one player to dominate the world for 5 years talkless of a decade. Xavi of Barcelona and Spain has been playing outstanding football for at least three years now. Still he is not thought-of as the best player in the world. Let us just enjoy the incredible talent these guys have and stop having these unwinable arguments about players from different eras.

I don't think pele was envious by his comments. If pele scored 1000 goals in his days. Chances are that he may have scored more today. Football has improved significantly. Training session involves simulations and all sorts. Pele didn't have access to all these, no big money involved. These, all things being equal would have enhanced his performance. He shears the same calm and humble personnality as Messi. He also commended messi.

People are different in their own ways.

Till date,nothing suggests that European teams are better than South American teams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Cup_(football)

This is a reply to the guy who said Pele didn't play in Europe.

Eastbay:

Pele played in four world cups and won three of them.No one has managed that before or after him.
Pele didn't need to play in Europe,because back then it was difficult to have foreign based players,let alone South American players in Europe,so it wasn't his fault.

Story, story. . . .

If you look at Peles contribution in 1962 and 1970, that would tell you that Brazil would have won those WC's with or without Pele.

Pele had chance to go to Madrid. Di Stefano and the rest were already in Madrid by then.

kokoye:

^^^ Thank you ojare.

Messi should go and win at least one world cup (self -handedly sp?) to even be compared to Maradona . . talk less of Pele.

Maradona NEVER won a world cup single handedly. In the mexico 86 final, the winning goal was scored by burruchaga. And it is debatable if pele was greater than maradona. Afterall, Maradona seems to top most of the polls between the two. The official FIFA poll has it as a tie between the two of them.
    someone mentioned messi as not being as good as johan cryuff. Matey are you having a laugh. Even the great man himself admits that he can only dream about being able to do what messi does now. Typical blinkered fans, with none of you ever having watched a pele game live. is it those cheesy old school betamax videos of muscled men in tight shorts you want to use to judge? What was Maradona doing at Messi's age? Getting sent off in the world cup?

Ibime,
Stop being unnecessarily diversionary.
Fact remains Pele won three world cups.In 62,He was injured,but in 1970,he was the teams driving force.Watch ESPN's Classic world cup players and you'll see the outrageous goal attempts he made against Czechoslovakia and Uruguay.Things nobody at the time even dreamt of doing.
Let Messi win one,and then the arguments can begin.He's not regarded as the best  ever even in his native Argentina.The fact that he's the best in the world at this moment is not enough to call him the greatest ever.
Club football is not suffiecient in itself to crown a player the best in the world.

Kratos007:

Maradona NEVER won a world cup single handedly. In the mexico 86 final, the winning goal was scored by burruchaga. And it is debatable if pele was greater than maradona. Afterall, Maradona seems to top most of the polls between the two. The official FIFA poll has it as a tie between the two of them.
    someone mentioned messi as not being as good as johan cryuff. Matey are you having a laugh. Even the great man himself admits that he can only dream about being able to do what messi does now. Typical blinkered fans, with none of you ever having watched a pele game live. is it those cheesy old school betamax videos of muscled men in tight shorts you want to use to judge? What was Maradona doing at Messi's age? Getting sent off in the world cup?

So what do you remember that World Cup 86 for . . who clearly dominated the news then?

@Kratos,
Correction:
Mexico 86 is remembered as the Maradona world cup.
The winning goal was scored by Burruchaga of a slide rule pass from whom?After being kicked to submission by the Germans,he still found that same moment of genius to set up his team-mate.
And I repeat,Messi knows he's not even as good as Johan Cruyff.I doubt if you've seen Cruyff play.Because the current field of players is largely mediocre and Messi stands out (admittedly by a long mile) doesn't make Messi better than his predecessors.Cruyff LED Ajax to European titles,and was unlucky not to win the World Cup in Germany.He was called the white Pele.
Then footie was more physical.Not now that refs protect players to the point where it's ridiculous.
At least I still see Pele play through ESPN classic,and it's not cheesy.
Question:why does Messi appear ordinary while with Argentina?

honeric01:

@deb

 Football in the old days was harder than what we have now, then there was no referees shielding strikers against dangerous tackles, you could get tackled once and that might end your career as a footballer, do you know how many players broke their legs at an early age playing football in the old days?

 Stop comparing the old time way of playing football with now because now's very easy compared to the old age. (if you doubt me, try watching classic football dated from 1960s to 1990s.

Am with you on this. Football was harder in those years than we have it now. It used to be war!

MESSI IS JUST TO SMALL TO COMPARE WITH PELE, MIGHT BE A BEAUTIFUL PLAYER. FOOTBALL IS CONSISTENCY OVER TIME, WHATEVER HAPPEN BETWEEN NOW AND 3 YEARS WILL DECIDE SOMETHING, TODAY I SEE HIM AS AN OPPORTUNISTIC PLAYER LIKE RONALDINHO, MONKEY DEY JUMP NA TREE NEAR TREE. HE HAS NOT SHOWN ANYTHING WITH HIS NATIONAL TEAM. BARCA IS THE CLUB TO PRAISE FOR KNOWING HIS POTENTIAL AND UTILIZING IT WELL. IN PELE'S DAYS, IT TOOK A LOT TO CARVE A NAME, AND HE DID.

VALIDATOR:

I agree that Pele sounded jealous but you will probably feel the same way if in 30 years time a youngster who scores 203 in Jamb is declared the brightest naija kid ever just because all others are scoring below 170.