I came across a quote some time back and it's stuck in my head since. Can't remember who it was from but it went along the lines of, "a good player plays well every game while a great player ensures his team plays well every game".

because football never a 1 man game ...

Although just 1 man, they make a difference and win matches, that's why they are called legends.

great thought of a quote. its true no one (1) person makekh a team; but he sure as hell makes the differences in big, huge games when it counts. surely given the weight maradona carries with napoli & with argentina; he nudges over pele (again no disrespect to pele, he is a super talent probably the greatest brazilian footballer to this day the world has ever seen).

Who says Maradona was on his own ? Mario Kempes was one hell of a striker back then too !

This is like comparing Potato chips and mashed potatos,lol

some prefer the chips,but some prefer the mashed..but in the end it's the same thing,but added with different ingredient.

Which is exactly what makes this an interesting topic to discuss isn't it? If it were so clear cut, this thread wouldn't have lasted more than a page.

When people talk about Maradona, they often refer to the 1986 World Cup and Kempes had retired by then. Few would dispute that he single handedly brought the Jules Rimet back to Argentina that year. It was also that year he scored an amazing goal against England which was overshadowed only by the "Hand of God". I mentioned earlier also that he along with Careca was the reason Napoli won the Scudetto.

That all being said I must admit the only times I've seen Pele play is on youtube.

neither...crouch is better

Read on The Star today, current Man U player were asked to name their footballing idols, Ferdinand, Giggs, Tevez and Rooney named Maradona. Curiously no one said Pele. I read on another article some time back when Beckham said his idol was also Maradona.

Listed what the others said,

Ferguson - Dennis Law
Evans - Roy Keane
Neville - Bryan Robson
O'Shea - Paul McGrath
Foster - Schmeichel
Anderson - Rivaldo
Berbatov - his father, van Basten, Alan Shearer
Carrick - Peter Beardsley, Gascoigne & Ian Wright

ps Tevez said: "Maradona is the greatest player of all time. Diego, for all Argentinians, is God. And he will always be."

This post has been edited by cic.lemur: Jul 13 2009, 11:18 AM

Well Pele played up until the 70's and most of the players mentioned were not even born yet and this would no doubt have influenced their decision to name Maradona who retired over a decade later.

True, but I think Rooney is a bit young to have watched Maradona

True but you can find more footage of Maradona even on youtube as world football got better and better coverage over the years.

I have to ask how many of the older folks actually watched Pele play, they may have watched the 1970 world cup but prior to that it's hard to imagine Malaysia broadcasting Santos games on a regular basis. I got a feeling the guys who voted for Pele here had watched him play far fewer times than they be willing to admit, and had voted for Pele more out of what other people said about the legendary Pele, rather that what they saw with their own eyes.

I totally agree. I mean I myself have tried searching for footage of Pele but find them impossible to come by. I doubt many posters here are older than I and I've never seen him play in the flesh as he retired a year after I was born. Actually it's the same for pretty much every other poll. It's the reason you get posters naming names with no justification because it's based on heresay. E.g. "Who is the best defender in the world?" answer. "Maldini!". Erm why? How many watch the Serie A consistently? If you do, you'd be able to justify the claim.

if not mistaken, sometimes ago both Pele and Maradona were voted "Fifa Player of the Century".

however, just my opinion lah... maradona got voted because the way he played really bring miracle into the game. Pele perhaps got voted not because of his extraordinary playing skill but more like some sort of his role as ambassador to football and holding some post in fifa.

i myself voted maradona, of course. i dont even know how good is pele. i only got watch some of his clips in youtube and not amazed by those clips.

Where is Johann Cruijff?
He's the reason the formation 4-3-3 existed.

Pele is not that good a dribbler, but he is lightning fast and impulsive reactions / decisions are spot on. And when he shoots, more often than not it'll end up behind the net, keepers do not even stand a chance. Such clinical finishes are comparable to Van Nistlerooy. (RVN just finishes, he has no pace/skills)

Are you sure about that? Did you really see all his game? He`s getting better and better at Real, he keep on improving all the time

Some of the black and white clips of Pele on youtube are very impressive, shows him expertly and swiftly dribbling past several players, but then again I have to say, in some of the clips, I laugh at the defenders just standing there like dungus. For his clips with better quality, eg colour, I share your opinion, not impressed. But can't really judge a player by looking at youtube clips, can make anyone look like a football God by clipping together the best moments in his career, or make him look like a turd by clipping together his worst moments.

I watch my DVD of life & times of "Maradona"

He said in an post match interview
(in the height of the triumphant Napoli clinching the italian championship title)
"Maradona is maradona, Pele is the greatest; I'm just a Normal player"

for a great player to exhibit such humility (some say arrogance/some say he's beyond such trivial) of "who is the greatest"

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Added on July 15, 2009, 10:26 amthose earlier days TV1 or was it TV2 (maybe one of the malaysian local channel) use to run BBC documentaries of "world cup" games leading to the next FIFA world cup tournaments

I also watched docu of life & times "pele" (in his younger days /short BW clips to his NY cosmos & his 1,000 goal (penalty); you know the latin type of of celebration when a goal is scored " GGGOOOOOOOOOOOAOAAAAAAAAALLL, GGOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALXXXXXXXXXX!" (cough cough)

yeah i admit, i'm not that young like some younglings here, i seen those bits on pele.



pele CAN dribble, juggle, head & score from freekicks (maybe not as stylishly as his brazilian compariots)
if my memory serves me right on pele clips. if i'm not mistaken there was one (local brazilian league game) where he (pele) took the ball from his teams goalkeeper/defence dribbled all the way & passed the opposition keeper but missed the goal as it went narrowly past the post. that how brilliant dribber he is.

if the version of not so good dribbler as in "ronaldo step overs" then yeah, he's more purposeful on that But still a typical brazilian showboat at times. which is why many still adores brazilian flair

BBC has a tonsfull of such anology /docu views of many players, watching them & listening to those great BBC commentaries is something to treasure. wish someone can get hold of such

This post has been edited by koolspyda: Jul 15 2009, 11:04 AM