Diego Maradona: Pelé will always be second best soccer player to me
Diego Maradona won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina. (Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images)
Diego Maradona is 53 years old and Pelé is 73, but that hasn't stopped the former from perpetuating his feud with the Brazilian over who the better player was.
Pelé received the Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur in Switzerland last week. He was ineligible to win the original Ballon d'Or, which is given annually to the year's top player, because the award was reserved for European players at the time.
But Maradona wasn't impressed by the honor bestowed upon his rival.
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“How can you say that Pelé received the Ballon d’Or before me? I received the award in Paris [in 1996]. So to make Pelé the first one to receive the award before me is a huge mistake,” the Argentinian said, according to an ESPN report.
“According to me, Pelé will always remain second best in football when compared to Maradona. Look at it this way, in his own country, Brazil, Pelé is the second best sportsman after Ayrton Senna [the former F1 driver].
“Pelé will always be second, be it in international football or in Brazilian sports. The sad thing is that he is second best and he will continue to stay in that position.
Maradona is currently Dubai's sports ambassador, ESPN reports.
Said Maradona: “I am happy with what I am doing for football and for myself. I am content living in a home in Dubai, but Pelé lives in FIFA.”
