Brazilian legend Pele is one of the greatest footballers to have played the game, some regard him as the best of all time. And the now 71 year old is open and direct with his opinions when asked by the media.
The French newspaper Le Monde has recently interviewed Pele and when asked about 24 year old Argentinian Lionel Messi being compared to him Pele simply said, "When Messi's scored 1,283 goals like me, when he's won three World Cups, we'll talk about it."
Now that is Pele at his best and he has a point here which he reiterated by adding, "I like Messi a lot, he's a great player! Technically, we're practically at the same level. He's a great player for (FC) Barcelona, but when he plays for Argentina he doesn't have the same success."
Messi's club coach Pep Guardiola was critical of Pele's assessment of his star player, but Messi has often not been able to recreate that magic for Argentina which he shows when he wears a Barca jersey.
Many say Messi is only as good as he is at FC Barcelona due to the blind understanding he has with long-time team mates like Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Carlos Puyol and the others; which is simply not there in the Argentinian team.
Three UEFA Champions League titles with Barca are good to have, but the legends of the game are matched by at least one FIFA World Cup triumph. Argentina and Messi have not been close to such a feat since Diego Maradona in 1990, when Argentina lost out to West Germany in the finals.
Here Lionel Messi has to prove his international class in the years to come...
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