Making it clear that he will not be running for the post of FIFA President, legendary footballer Pele today termed Argentine forward, Lionel Messi, as the “best” footballer “in last 10 years”.
However, he also spoke highly of Brazillian footballer Neymar and Portugese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speaking during a media meet organised by the Indian Super League football tournament’s Kolkata franchisee – Atletico de Kolkata – Pele said: “No I don't have any intention to be FIFA President."
On the comparison between players, Pele said: "It's very difficult to make a comparison of players of different generations. But in the last 10 years Messi was the best. We have Neymar who also has good future."
Pele is here in India on a week-long sojourn and will cheer the Atletico de Kolkata team during their first home match in the second season of the ISL. The match is scheduled on October 13.
Highly competitive
Agreeing that the sport has become highly competitive, the 74-year-old maintained that he would have been successful had he played in this generation too. According to him, it is “God’s gift” and will remain the same.
“No doubt football today is tougher than before; but when God gifts you to play football it's the same in any generation. Football is all about skill,” he said.
World Cup defeat
The three-time World Cup winner, however, blamed the team atmosphere for the country’s 1-7 defeat to Germany in World Cup 2014.
According to him, the country has “not lost its passion” for football and it still has “some of the best players”.
“Individual players are important but we have to have a good team. You need to play together well as a team. That's the big problem. Individually we have the best players but as a team we've a lot of problem. In my time the players, used to belong to the clubs but today players are managed by their agents."