I’d pick Messi over Ronaldo in my team, says Pelé
NEW DELHI: The best thing about being part of John Huston’s ‘Escape to Victory’ was that he knew his side would win, said legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé, referring to the 1981 film about the escape of a group of prisoners of war from German captivity during the World War II after a football match. That is not something he could say about his extraordinary life.
Pelé, who featured in the film along with Sylvester Stallone and footballers like Bobby Moore, said this in conversation with former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. The conversation spanned generations and continents. It had anecdotes from the life of the legendary footballer proud to be named after Thomas Edison but who now loves being called Pelé. The Brazilian footballer said he thought his father was joking when he broke the news of his selection to play for Brazil when he was just a 17-year-old.
The conversation covered a career in which Pelé, the legend who never wanted to be a coach, won three World Cups.
Pelé did not deflect questions that could have seemed uncomfortable but did produce an unexpected feint. So when Bhutia asked him to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Pele first pointed out how they differ in their styles and reminisced about being compared to George Best. “Ronaldo is more of a centreforward but Messi has ball control and organises the team…”
But if I have to select in my team, I would select Messi,” he said.
For Pele, England’s World Cup winners Bobby Moore and Bobby Charlton would have been just as successful today. The biggest change in football, he said, is the improvement in infrastructure. “I sometimes say if I had that kind of facility and support, I would not stop at 1,200 goals, I would score 2,000, 3,000 goals.” The audience cheered. Just as it did when Pele explained how Brazil has an assembly-line of football talent. “Simple, God is the coach of Brazil,” he said.
Looking back at Brazil teams, Pele elided two that won the World Cup (1994 and 2002) but spoke glowingly of the teams of 1958 and 1962. “The last great generation was that of Zico and Socrates (1982-86). Now we are starting again; we have Neymar and (Philippe) Coutinho but we need to prove ourselves,” he said.
When Shaji Prabhakaran, president of Football Delhi, asked from the audience what he would do if he was president of the All India Football Federation for one day, Pele replied: “Send the youngsters to Brazil for three months every year.”
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I sometimes say if I had that kind of facility and support, I would not stop at 1,200 goals, I would score 2,000, 3,000 goals
PELE, former football player