Pele or Maradona?

Both have been great footballers - each of them in his time.

So I voted for Pele, since he has been the idol of my childhood/youth.
Football was played much more simple in those days. And there have been quite a couple of "upper legue" players. Pele was definately the best of them.

I must admit: if I was younger and didn't have a personal antipathy against him - Madonna was a 'football god' in his best years.

MARADONA
My vote is for Maradona - it's the feet! Although I never saw either Maradona or Pele play, only films.

What about a poll for the greatest footballer of all time? Kocsis, Fontaine, Muller? The U.S.A. had pretty good player in the '30s. Archie Stark. Still holds the record for the most goals in one International game, I believe.

Highlight of my W.C. attendance: 1998, the Germany-Bulgaria game! I also saw Stoichov play in Barcelona a few years before. Now I watch on TV or in an East Coast stadium sometimes. The next W.C. qualifying rounds will begin SOON!

Tough question. One day I'd vote Pelé; the other, Maradona.

O rei was, indeed, a special player, with unique skills and talent. He was only 17 when he lead Brazil into the world championship in Sweden. (By comparison, at 18, Maradona was benched in Menotti's Argentina '78 champions). Pelé invented some absolutely amazing plays: he was master at the self-pass.

But Maradona had at least the same talent and, as Craven says, he played in an era when deffenders really marked offenders, an era which demanded much more athletic skills: more strength and more stamina. His second goal against England in the '86 World Cup is probably the best individual play in football history. The British, of course, prefer to remember the first goal, made by the "hand of God".

Not only do they defend but if you display individual brilliance they will just foul you. I've seen footage of Pele tossing the ball over people's heads and running by. Nowadays they will hold you and not let you pass.

I think Denilson is better with ball handling than Pele but can't get away with much without being fouled.

(apologies for the missing accents, this puter isn't setup for any language except English)

In the old days, they held you by kicking your legs. It was Bulgaria's strategy against Brazil in WC66. It was no good for the Bulgarians (they lost 0-2), but a key for the rest of the tournament. Pelé was injured out of it and Brazil couldn't repeat their 1958 and 1962 championships.

I heard about that but wonder why they don't kick him in the highlights. I see them backing off in the area.

Your analysis is correct. Deffenders used to be quite naïve; there was a lot of more room for the players. And the game was slower.

In the sixties the Italians invented catenaccio: the deffending lock, but this was merely tactical. The big change came in the 70s with the Netherlands' Clockwork Orange, and their field marshall Johann Cruyff (IMHO, the number 3 player in the history of football). That was a great team: the best ever to not win a World Championship.

I've always been a fan of the Dutch teams. A pity they weren't in the Cup.

My idol is Pele, still in my youth years, I live in U.S.A, Cant just go out and play football, people like baseball and not the beautiful sport. I'v seen some good things outta both.

Re: Pele or Maradona?



I think you're very VERY VERY wrong........PELE is a far more bigger legend than Maradona will ever be....Maradona will never come near the greatness of PELE...thats the truth

exactly

Pele the goalgetter and Maradonna´s goal with the hand of god. haha

ive watched both maradona and pele. and let me tell you. Maradona is GOD.
1st he played in the toughest league in the world. With rough and tough tacklers.*Gentile* and what he did in world cup 86 was brilliant. ive never seen a guy control a game more than maradona. He won it single handedly. in 86' ive seen many examples in how the argentinian team was "unmotivated". there are lots of examples of this in the game vs urguguay.
Also look at Napoli. It never won anything big in 60 years. He wrote napoli a history.

Anyone who watched atleast 1 hour of maradona will fall in love with Argentina and maradona.

all the opnions on this subject are bised. either people hate maradona because of his drug or cheating. or they only watched pele.

"I think you're very VERY VERY wrong........PELE is a far more bigger legend than Maradona will ever be....Maradona will never come near the greatness of PELE...thats the truth "

is that why he won the internet poll. because pele is far greater? People only say pele because most of them never saw him or maradona. Hes become an icon not for his skills but for his name.