{"id":610,"date":"2015-12-01T16:05:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T19:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/?p=610"},"modified":"2024-04-26T19:23:49","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T22:23:49","slug":"the-best-soccer-player-of-all-time-according-to-the-greatest-legends-of-the-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/01\/the-best-soccer-player-of-all-time-according-to-the-greatest-legends-of-the-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"The best football (soccer) player of all time according to the greatest legends of the sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"The%20best%20football%20%28soccer%29%20player%20of%20all%20time%20according%20to%20the%20greatest%20legends%20of%20the%20sport\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Following the post about the greatest basketball player of all time according to NBA legends, some friends and readers asked for\u00a0a similar list about soccer\/football.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you follow this blog, you probably know that I consider Pel\u00e9 to be the greatest footballer ever. \u00a0However, I must recognize that there are other athletes worthy of such title, true giants like Maradona, Di St\u00e9fano, Cruyff, Messi, Garrincha, among others. In my opinion, no one was much better than Messi &#8211; not even Pel\u00e9. No one was considerably superior to Cruyff &#8211; not even Maradona. They are all are gods, seated in the most honorable places of soccer Olympus.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2539\" style=\"width: 519px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4ddCZn4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2539\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2539\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/xbox.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"509\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/xbox.jpg 509w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/xbox-300x234.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 509px) 100vw, 509px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2539\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click on the image below to buy Xbox Series X with EA FC 24 and play with football legends<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nonetheless,\u00a0the discussion about who was the best ever is indeed very fun (certainly the topic of many conversations among friends). Because of that (besides requests by friends and readers), I&#8217;ve decided to look for the opinion (the most recent ones, when Messi, for example, was already considered an all time great) of 24 world football legends (17 players and 7 coaches). \u00a0I used, as criteria to choose the players, the following list of the 20 greatest (witch does not mean that I necessarily agree with that list) \u00a0by \u00a0The International Federation of Football History &amp; Statistics<\/p>\n<pre> 1.\"Pel\u00e9\"                 (<i>Brazil<\/i>)        1705 \r\n 2.Johan Cruijff          (<i>Netherlands<\/i>)   1303\r\n 3.Franz Beckenbauer      (<i>Germany<\/i>)       1228\r\n 4.Alfredo di St\u00e9fano     (Argentina)     1215\r\n 5.Diego Armando Maradona (<i>Argentina<\/i>)     1214\r\n 6.Ferenc Pusk\u00e1s          (<i>Hungary<\/i>)        810\r\n 7.Michel Platini         (<i>France<\/i>)         722\r\n 8.Garrincha              (Brazil)         624  \r\n 9.Eus\u00e9bio                (<i>Portugal<\/i>)       544  \r\n10.Robert Charlton        (<i>England<\/i>)        508\r\n11.Stanley Matthews       (England)        368\r\n12.Marco van Basten       (Netherlands)    315\r\n13.Gerd M\u00fcller            (Germany)        265\r\n14.Zico                   (Brazil)         207\r\n15.Lothar Matth\u00e4us        (Germany)        202\r\n16.George Best            (<i>N. Ireland<\/i>)187\r\n17.Juan Alberto Schiaffino(<i>Uruguay<\/i>)        158\r\n18.Ruud Gullit            (Netherlands)    119\r\n19.Valdir Pereira Didi    (Brazil)         116\r\n   Gianni Rivera          (<i>Italy<\/i>)          116<\/pre>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Excluding dead players from the list (with the exception of Eus\u00e9bio and Di St\u00e9fano, because they got the chance to see Messi and other recent players) and Gerd Muller (since I could not find his views on the subject), we get 13 players. In order to make it to 17, I&#8217;ve decided to add Just Fontaine (French, record holder of most goals in a single World Cup &#8211; 13 in 58); Roberto Rivelino (World Cup champion with Brazil in 1970), Zinedine Zidane (WC champion in 1998 with France) and Daniel Passarella (captain of the 1978 WC Champions, Argentina).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Among the 7 coaches, I&#8217;ve selected one big name of each World Cup winning nation (I chose one Scottish for England, that&#8217;s why I will list the country as United Kingdom). Since there are mostly Brazilians and Argentinians fighting for the top spot, I chose 4 (3 players and one coach) from each of those countries. Therefore, the 24 voters will be:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Argentina &#8211; Maradona, Di St\u00e9fano, \u00a0Daniel Passarella and C\u00e9sar Lu\u00eds Menotti (as a coach, won the World Cup with Argentina in\u00a01978);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Brazil &#8211; Pel\u00e9, Zico, Rivellino and \u00a0Zagallo (as a coach, won the 1970 WC);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">France &#8211; Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, Just Fontaine and Ars\u00e8ne Wenger (coach);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Germany\u00a0&#8211; Franz Beckenbauer, Lothar Matthaus,\u00a0Jupp Heynckes (as a coach, \u00a0won the\u00a0 Champion&#8217;s League with\u00a0Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Italy &#8211; Gianni Rivera and Fabio Capello (as a coach);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Netherlands\u00a0&#8211; Johan Cruyff, Rudd Gullit and Marco Van Basten;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Portugal &#8211; Eus\u00e9bio.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Spain &#8211; Josep (Pep) Guardiola (as a coach);<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">United Kingdom- Robert (Bobby) Charlton and Alex Ferguson (scottish coach, 2 time Champion&#8217;s League Winner with Manchester United).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Lastly, next are each legend choices (first players, then coaches):<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Pel\u00e9<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/news\/brazil-legend-pele-claims-hes-6693698\">himself (Pel\u00e9).\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">Trivia:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/g1.globo.com\/platb\/geneton\/2010\/06\/30\/confissoes-de-um-rei-em-nova-york-pele-diz-que-maradona-precisa-primeiro-provar-que-foi-o-melhor-da-argentina\/\">Pel\u00e9 has special admiration for Zico <\/a>\u00a0(undoubtedly, one of the game&#8217;s greats):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Reporter: Among all the Brazilians you have listed, who came closer to Pel\u00e9 as players?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pel\u00e9: Because of his playing style, the closest one was Zico&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Maradona<\/strong>: <strong>himself<\/strong>\u00a0(<strong>Maradona) &#8211; <\/strong>\u00a0He thinks he was superior to <a href=\"http:\/\/globoesporte.globo.com\/platb\/futebolargentino\/2011\/01\/17\/maradona-o-bom-da-comparacao-com-messi-e-que-deixam-de-fora-pele\/\">Pel\u00e9 a<\/a>nd\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/futboltotal.com.mx\/2015\/05\/maradona-se-considera-mejor-que-messi\/\">Messi<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bobby Charlton &#8211; Di St\u00e9fano.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/sport\/football\/teams\/real-madrid\/10952607\/Alfredo-di-Stefano-A-true-titan-of-the-game-regarded-by-many-as-its-greatest-ever-exponent.html\">In 2014, Charlton claimed Di St\u00e9fano was the greatest ever.<\/a> However<a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/sport\/football\/teams\/real-madrid\/10952607\/Alfredo-di-Stefano-A-true-titan-of-the-game-regarded-by-many-as-its-greatest-ever-exponent.html\">, <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.laureus.com\/news\/interview-sir-bobby-charlton\">he also has Pel\u00e9, Messi and Cruyff at the same level as Di St\u00e9fano.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Johan Cruyff: Probably Pel\u00e9<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\">When Pel\u00e9 was voted the best player of the 20th century in 2000, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/news\/12221470.Pele_is_voted_best_player_of_the_20th_Century\/\">Cruyff said that the poll had the right winner.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-2237293\/Johan-Cruyffs-world-XI-No-Lionel-Messi-Cristiano-Ronaldo.html\">In 2012, Cruyff named his All time XI<\/a> with:\u00a0Yashin (URSS); Carlos Alberto (BRA), Beckenbauer (GER), Krol (HOL); Guardiola (SPA), Charlton (ENG), Di Stefano (ARG), Keizer (HOL); Maradona (ARG), Pel\u00e9 (BRA), Garrincha (BRA). Since he left Messi out, I presume he still regards Pele as the all time best.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 18pt; line-height: 150%; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; orphans: auto; widows: 1; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;\"><strong>Franz Beckenbauer: Pel\u00e9.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/news\/2914\/champions-league\/2015\/05\/12\/11668632\/beckenbauer-messi-the-worlds-best-but-pele-the-greatest-ever\">About Pel\u00e9 and Messi, the &#8220;Kaiser&#8221; said in the current year of 2015:<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But now he (Messi) is the best player in the world and of his time.\u00a0However, the best ever is Pele. He is just ahead of Messi. I&#8217;ve never seen a player like Pele.\u00a0I played with him at the New York Cosmos and you would give him the ball and just not see him again because he was too fast.\u00a0Pele was all instinct.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Di Stefano: Pel\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During an interview in 2012,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en\/news\/12\/spain\/2012\/09\/10\/3366174\/pele-was-better-than-messi-cristiano-ronaldo-says-di-stefano\"> the late Argentinian genius stated:<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;The best player ever? Pele. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both great players with specific qualities, but Pele was better&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Recently, according to journalist Luis Munilla, Menotti said in an interview with &#8220;Radio Marca&#8221; that Di Stefano, in private conversations, used to tell him that there was no one like Pel\u00e9.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Menotti en Radio Marca: &quot;En la intimidad Di Stefano me dec\u00eda que como Pel\u00e9 no hab\u00eda ninguno&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Luis Munilla (@munillacope) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/munillacope\/status\/657129324345237504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Platini: Pel\u00e9 ou Cruyff (each one will get one vote).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In<a href=\"http:\/\/esportes.terra.com.br\/futebol\/platini-ignora-pele-e-maradona-cruyff-e-o-melhor-de-todos,91230f3e4389a310VgnCLD200000bbcceb0aRCRD.html\">\u00a02011<\/a>, Platini said Cruyff was the greatest of all time. <a href=\"http:\/\/odia.ig.com.br\/esporte\/2014-12-09\/michel-platini-enaltece-pele-ele-e-o-maior-jogador-de-futebol-da-historia.html\">In 2014,<\/a> he had Pel\u00e9 as the best ever\u00a0(I shall count one vote for each one of them).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an youtube video, Platini said: &#8220;There is Pel\u00e9, the man, and then Pel\u00e9, the player. And to play like Pel\u00e9 is to play like God&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michel Platini: &quot;To play like Pel\u00e9 is to play like God&quot;\" width=\"616\" height=\"462\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MF3yVLf9j4s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Eus\u00e9bio: Di St\u00e9fano.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/esporte.uol.com.br\/futebol\/ultimas\/2008\/03\/09\/ult59u149025.jhtm\">&#8220;The most complete player in the history of football is called Alfredo Di St\u00e9fano.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Zico: Pel\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/br\/news\/3838\/sele%C3%A7%C3%A3o-brasileira\/2014\/11\/17\/6239961\/zico-exalta-pel%C3%A9-%C3%A9-o-maior-%C3%ADdolo-de-todas-as-gera%C3%A7%C3%B5es-de\">2014<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo doubt, he is the greatest ever. When God built Pele, he put everything that a player needs in him. He knew how to shoot, how to dribble, how to head, be physical. He had everything that a football player needs to have. It\u2019s difficult for someone to achieve what he has in football.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tactically, technically, physically, mentally he was the best. A lot of things that I learnt was from Pele\u2019s sticker albums: how to head, how to shoot the ball. It was like a step-by-step guide. I learnt from Pele as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Roberto Rivelino:<\/strong> <strong>Pel\u00e9<\/strong>\u00a0and Maradona,in that order<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/globoesporte.globo.com\/futebol\/selecoes\/argentina\/noticia\/2014\/07\/convidado-de-maradona-rivelino-mantem-opiniao-pele-foi-o-melhor.html\">In an interview to Maradona himself in 2014<\/a>, Rivelino stated:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;There is always a lot of comparison between Pel\u00e9 and Maradona. I take my hat off for Pel\u00e9. But, after Pel\u00e9, Maradona was the best I ever saw. For his elegance, his importance. He was a true &#8220;10&#8221;. What Maradona did for Napoli gives me goosebumps. Maradona played football extremely well, he was so special.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Zinedine Zidane: Probably\u00a0Maradona. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/br\/news\/7160\/hall-da-fama-goal\/2014\/11\/12\/6061781\/zidane-sobre-maradona-ele-estava-em-outro-n%C3%ADvel\">The French superstar always mentions that Maradona\u00a0was in another level from the rest.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Daniel Passarella:\u00a0Hard to compare great players.<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/globoesporte.globo.com\/futebol\/futebol-internacional\/futebol-argentino\/noticia\/2013\/09\/daniel-passarella-diz-que-messi-pode-superar-maradona-caminho-certo.html\">2013<\/a>, Passarela said about Pel\u00e9, Messi and Maradona.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Today, football is more about results. The same people who say Maradona is better than Messi for having won a Word Cup, don&#8217;t the same about Pel\u00e9, who won 3, more than Maradona. With that, I want to say that Messi, even without winning a World Cup, has showed that he is in the right path to surpass Maradona.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sportv.globo.com\/site\/programas\/E-Campeao\/noticia\/2014\/06\/passarella-pele-era-mais-inteligente-e-maradona-tinha-futebol-mais-vistoso.html\">In 2014,<\/a>\u00a0about\u00a0Pel\u00e9, Di St\u00e9fano and Maradona:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;It is hard to compare great players. I did not see Di St\u00e9fano and another famous players. We begain to watch and understand football in Pel\u00e9&#8217;s days (&#8230;). But we don&#8217;t compare Pele and Maradona the same way. There is not such comparison, because Pel\u00e9 played 4 and won 3 world cups. This is important data. I think it was differnt times. Maradona was more flashy, drew a lof of attention, much more visible thatn Pel\u00e9. Pel\u00e9 was more intelligent, understood the game better.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Gianni Rivera<\/strong> (Milan and Italy legend, Ballon D&#8217;or winner in 1969)-\u00a0<strong>Pel\u00e9:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en\/news\/12\/spanish-football\/2012\/03\/27\/2995169\/rivera-messi-is-marvellous-but-pele-was-the-best\">&#8220;Messi is quite a weapon for Barca. Having him in your team is huge, he&#8217;s the most decisive player right now,\u00a0However, I do think there&#8217;s someone who was even better and that&#8217;s Pele. He used both feet on the pitch. He was as dangerous with his right as he was with his left. He was strong in the air as well, and created a lot of chances.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Rudd Gullit:<\/strong> \u00a0<strong>Maradona<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8221; He (Messi) is already the best in the world. He is an exceptional talent. I still think Diego Maradona is the best player I have ever seen, but Messi is closing in fast. He\u2019s a wonderful sight in full flight and we are lucky to have him around.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Marco Van Basten: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joe.ie\/sport\/interview-joe-talks-dutch-irish-italia-90-arrangement-and-maradonamessi-with-legend-marco-van-basten\/498744\">Maradona.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He believes that Messi needs to win a World Cup to be considered the best.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Lotthar Matthaus: <a href=\"http:\/\/sportv.globo.com\/site\/SporTV-na-Copa\/noticia\/2014\/03\/recordista-em-copas-elogia-pele-corneta-maradona-e-defende-barbosa.html\">Pel\u00e9.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 2014, in the Brazilian show\u00a0&#8220;\u00c9 campe\u00e3o&#8221; by Sportv,\u00a0he replied that Pel\u00e9 was the greatest ever (Sadly, I can&#8217;t find the clip).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Just Fontaine : Messi.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/esporte.uol.com.br\/futebol\/campeonatos\/liga-dos-campeoes\/ultimas-noticias\/2011\/05\/30\/idolo-frances-considera-messi-melhor-do-que-pele-e-elogia-barcelona.jhtm\">&#8220;I used to hink Pel\u00e9 was better, because he shone for his club and won World Cups. People also talk about Di St\u00e9fano, mas I think Messi is superior. With his speed and dribbles, he reminds me of Garrincha. When he wins a World Cup, the world will think the same.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Coaches from here on now.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Pep Guardiola: Messi <\/b>(compares\u00a0him with Pel\u00e9):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2015\/may\/13\/bayern-munich-pep-guardiola-barcelona-lionel-messi-best-player-champions-league\">\u201cHe is the best player of all time. I compare him with Pel\u00e9. I am so happy to see this football.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Zagallo:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.insidespanishfootball.com\/36863\/zagallo-messi-is-the-best-but-there-was-only-one-pele\/\"> Pel\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0(<a href=\"http:\/\/globoesporte.globo.com\/futebol\/selecao-brasileira\/noticia\/2014\/07\/centenario-da-selecao-zagallo-faz-top-13-e-diz-que-2014-foi-papelao.html\">&#8220;There was no one <\/a>like him in the world&#8221;).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Ars\u00e8ne Wenger: Messi.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Arsene Wenger: Lionel Messi Is The Greatest Footballer Of All Time\" width=\"616\" height=\"462\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IAGfwprpXsk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Jupp Heynckes: Pel\u00e9, Messi and Maradona are in the same leve\u00a0(each one will get one vote).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fifa.com\/world-match-centre\/news\/newsid\/228\/006\/0\/\">&#8220;He&#8217;s (Messi) a genius and is certainly on a par with Maradona and Pele&#8221;.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Menotti &#8211; Pel\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/news\/2931\/go-global\/2012\/01\/11\/2841564\/cesar-luis-menotti-neymar-must-decide-whether-he-wants-to-be\">He stated in an interview in 2012:<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;The best of all was Pele, who is a mixture of [Alfredo] Di Stefano, [Diego] Maradona, [Johan] Cruyff and Leo Messi.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During his participation in a documentary about Messi&#8217;s life, according to an article published in<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140817012509\/http:\/\/canchallena.lanacion.com.ar\/1706682-la-admiracion-extrema-de-menotti-por-pele-y-otras-curiosidades-de-la-pelicula-de-messi\">&#8220;La Nacion&#8221;<\/a>, \u00a0Menotti praised the Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s genius, &#8220;but when he heard Pel\u00e9&#8217;s name, his demeanor changed completely: &#8216;When we talk about football, don&#8217;t put Pel\u00e9 because he was from another planet. Then, he added: &#8220;Who was better between Messi and Maradona? I don&#8217;t now, not possible to decide, they are both great players. The only one who is above everything, I&#8217;ve already mentioned and won&#8217;t say it again&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Alex Ferguson &#8211; Pel\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-2441671\/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-interview-transcript-Pele-grudges-Civil-War-team-building-life.html\">Interview in 2013:<\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><b>Charlie Rose:<\/b> Who is the best player that you ever saw?<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>AF:<\/b> I\u2019m a Pele fan from way back when I was a kid, and then there was always this thing later about Pele and Maradona. I was young and impressionable as a kid but it was always Pele for me. Today, I think that you have got to look at Messi and Ronaldo. They are unbelievable. The best today. They are fantastic \u2013 absolutely.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Fabio Capello &#8211; Pel\u00e9, Messi and Maradona are the three best ever (each one will get one vote).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.daily-sun.com\/post\/182316\/Pele-Maradona-Messi-greatest-ever-footballers\">&#8220;Pel\u00e9, Maradona and Messi: they are the three best players in the history of football. They make you get out of your seat and you give them a standing ovation at the end of the game&#8221;.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>FINAL RESULTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>PEL\u00c9 &#8211; 14 votes<\/strong> (Pel\u00e9, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Di St\u00e9fano, Zico, Platini, Rivellino, Rivera, Mathaus, Menotti, Alex Ferguson, Heynckes, Zagallo and Capello);<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>MARADONA &#8211; 6 votes<\/strong> (Maradona, Zidane, Gullit, Van Basten, Heynckes and Capello);<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>MESSI &#8211; 5 &#8211; votes<\/strong> (Fontaine, Guardiola, \u00a0W\u00e8nger and Heynckes);<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>DI ST\u00c9FANO &#8211; 2 votes<\/strong> (Bobby Charlton and Eus\u00e9bio);<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>CRUYFF- 1 vote<\/strong> (Platini)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Interestingly, I also consider the above players to be the 5 greatest ever. Beckenbauer and Cristiano Ronaldo \u00a0would complete my top 7.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As expected, Pel\u00e9 was the most remembered player. Also important to say the Messi&#8217;s 4 votes are impressive, specially since there are no one of his peers among the voters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If you find a legend&#8217;s opinion that is not here (specially by top 20, 30 \u00a0all time greats), please leave a comment and the link to the statement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bonus (thanks to the contributions of reader Jos\u00e9 Mauro)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>Note to readers<\/strong>: I will not add the &#8220;Bonus part&#8221; to the final ranking, because I have decided to count only the &#8220;votes&#8221; of the greatest legends of the sport, chosen according to the criteria explained in the article.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Alcides Ghiggia<\/strong> (1950 World Cup Champion for Uruguay):<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/zonaforo.meristation.com\/topic\/378665\/\">Pel\u00e9.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an interview for\u00a0Marca in\u00a02005:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Q: Who are, in your opinion, the three best players of all time?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ghiggia: Pel\u00e9, Di St\u00e9fano and Puskas.\u00a0In that order.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Jos\u00e9 Santamar\u00eda<\/strong> (Real Madrid&#8217;s\u00a0legendary Uruguayan defender in the 50&#8217;s and 60&#8217;s): <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kaisermagazine.com\/entrevistas\/santamaria-di-stefano-era-un-ganador-no-admitia-la-derrota\/\">Di St\u00e9fano.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Interview in\u00a02014:<\/p>\n<p>Q. You had the chance to see the great players in action, like Di St\u00e9fano himself, Pel\u00e9, Maradona and Cruyff&#8230; Di St\u00e9fano was the best?<\/p>\n<p>Santamaria<b>: <\/b>\u00a0 I&#8217;ve always stated that Di St\u00e9fano was the most complete, because he was the best, there is no doubt. The most complete in every way, because he worked with both legs, with his head, he did not stop running during the 90 minutes of the game. Anyway, a player with extraordinary qualities. And a winner. Always a winner.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Humberto &#8220;Bocha&#8221; Maschio: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elgrafico.com.ar\/2011\/11\/03\/C-3890-bocha-maschio-messi-esta-por-encima-de-pele-di-stefano-y-maradona.php\">Messi.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This great Argentinian-Italian forward, (played for both national teams; defended Italy in the 1962 World Cup), stated in 2011:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Messi will be the best of them all. He just needs time to fill his resume. I&#8217;ve played against Pel\u00e9 e Di St\u00e9fano. Pel\u00e9 was simple to play against, bad because he would throw elbows. Di St\u00e9fano, a man everywhere in the field; Maradona, very skilled and and a great finisher. However, this kid (Messi) has something the others don&#8217;t: he is fast with the ball at his feet, he takes it close to him, they know where his going, but can&#8217;t stop him. He is a phenomenon, number one in history already. It does not matter that he has now won with the national team.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(&#8230;) First Messi. One step below, Di St\u00e9fano, Pel\u00e9 and Maradona at the same level. And Cruyff, another step below. But Messi above all, the best in history.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Dino Sani: <a href=\"http:\/\/impedimento.org\/dino-sani-o-segredo-e-nao-inventar\/\">Pel\u00e9.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Great defensive midfielder for S\u00e3o Paulo, Milan (European Club Champion in 1962) and Brazil \u00a0(World Cup winner in 1958), \u00a0Dino Sani\u00a0said in 2013:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Pel\u00e9 is absolutely incomparable, unique mental speed. He would dribble you without you even noticing it. What we did was to try to anticipate his moves, because a player like him could be stopped. In my days at S\u00e3o Paulo, Vitor defended Pel\u00e9, who would move all the time, incredibly fast, quicksilver. When you got to him, you had to do something drastic, to the ball or to him. However, in the blink of an eye, he was already gone pass you and another player, and would give an assist or finish it himself. I&#8217;ve never seen anyone close to Pel\u00e9. He was astonishing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(&#8230;) After Pel\u00e9 and Di St\u00e9fano, it&#8217;s him (Maradona), no doubt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are great \u00a0(Messi e Neymar) and will get better, specially\u00a0Neymar, who is younger, but can&#8217;t be compared to them both\u00a0(Pel\u00e9 and Di St\u00e9fano). And there others ahead of them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"The%20best%20football%20%28soccer%29%20player%20of%20all%20time%20according%20to%20the%20greatest%20legends%20of%20the%20sport\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"The%20best%20football%20%28soccer%29%20player%20of%20all%20time%20according%20to%20the%20greatest%20legends%20of%20the%20sport\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>Following the post about the greatest basketball player of all time according to NBA legends, some friends and readers asked for\u00a0a similar list about soccer\/football. If you follow this blog, you probably know that I consider Pel\u00e9 to be the greatest footballer ever. \u00a0However, I must recognize that there are other athletes worthy of such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"The%20best%20football%20%28soccer%29%20player%20of%20all%20time%20according%20to%20the%20greatest%20legends%20of%20the%20sport\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[108,81,107,3,2,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2559,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions\/2559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}