Monday, 4 January 2016

Can Messi be compared to Pele?

Comparing their personal records and achievements. 

Lionel Messi is considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or four times, all of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the Guinness World Records titles for most goals scored in La Liga (292)a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and most Champions League seasons (five). Messi has scored a total of 436 goals in 533 appearances which means he has a scoring ability of 81.8%.


Edson Arantes do Nascimento popularly  known as Pele is widely regarded to be the greatest player of all time. In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). The same year, France Football asked their former Ballon d'Or winners to choose the Football Player of the Century; they selected Pelé. In 1999, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by theIOC, and Time named him in their list of100 most influential people of the 20th century. In 2013 he received the FIFA Ballon d'Or Prix d'Honneur in recognition of his career and achievements as a global icon of football.
According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal scorer in the world, with 541 league goals. In total Pelé scored 1281 goals in 1363 games, including unofficial friendlies and tour games, for which he was listed in the Guinness World Records for most career goals scored in football. Pele's scoring ability throughout his career was 94%.

After considering the statistics, I must say that Messi is yet to meet Pele's record and therefore, he can't be compared to Pele.
However, these are my opinions on the issue. You can add yours if you think otherwise or share if you agree with me. Thanks. 

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