Lionel Messi isn’t at Maradona or Pele’s level, says Zico

According to Brazilian legend Zico, Lionel Messi is having an amazing season but he’s still not quite on the level of Diego Maradona or Pele.

“Messi is close to Maradona. That means, in my opinion, he can’t be compared to Pelé. I still consider Maradona in front of Messi. With Pelé, no. Pelé has all the qualities and characteristic that a football player has to have.

“When God created him [Pelé], he put every quality a footballer needs; speed, strength, impulse, technique, kicking ability, heading, dribbling – all of it, everything that a player might have.

“Few people could jump like him for a header. He is 170 centimetres tall. His foundations are perfect, [he had] mastery of the ball, [and mastery of] headers. He improved in every way. Everything you can imagine from a player, Pele has done it.”

Zico | Source

Zico, who is now a director at Kashima Antlers still believes that Pele is untouchable. It’s always interesting to get the perspective of great players. Besides Maradona, most great players aren’t as candid as they could be.