Pele and Maradona Refuse to Drop Feud

Who is the greatest player of all time? Pele or Maradona? It’s one of the great debates in all of sport – a simmering feud that the big-headed protagonists themselves can’t seem to stay out of.

Over their long history of being compared to one another, Pele and Maradona have both been intent on fanning the flames. Maradona loves to point out that Pele was never tested by the demands of European club football. He also once suggested that Pele’s first sexual experience was with a man.

Pele, on the other hand, seizes every opportunity to proclaim the best player in the world or to anoint the “new Pele:” George Best… Ronaldo… Kaka… Freddy Adu (!) – anyone but Maradona. And the Brazilian was at it again yesterday, declaring that Alfredo Di Stefano was in fact the world’s best and that he had once turned down the chance to play with him at Real Madrid.

During that same interview, he also couldn’t resist a jab at his famous foe: “Maradona… could not kick with his right foot and did not score goals with his head,” he was quoted as saying. “The only time he scored an important goal was with his head, and it turned out he had used his hand.”

On a personal note, one of the greatest experiences of our lives was sitting next to Pele during a Premier League match between Chelsea and Charlton. We exchanged a few pleasantries and got to ask the Brazilian legend a couple of questions during the match. (How could anyone resist?!) So guess who was the one player on the pitch who caught his eye?

Joe Cole.  (“The new Pele!”)

Pele and Maradona takes another twist