_Happy boy Posted October 25, 2020 Posted October 25, 2020 No matter how old you are, or who you grew up watching, one man has long dominated the debate about just who was the greatest footballer of all time. From World Cup glory at 17 to Escape to Victory theatrics via 1,000 goals, Gordon Banks' save, and outrageous dummies, Pele has been a walking, talking showreel for more than half a century. Was he the finest player to ever grace the game - or are the modern-day superstars a cut above? As Pele turns 80, BBC Sport asked you to rate his achievements among some of the other GOATs (from this list) - and you put them in order at the bottom. The results have now been counted and Pele was ranked by you as the greatest, with Barcelona's Lionel Messi in second and Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo in third. We have put the players in order of the results below, while you can still play for fun at the bottom of this page. Note: The Ballon d'Or could only be won by a European player until 1995 1: Pele (Santos, NY Cosmos & Brazil) World Cup wins: 1958, 1962, 1970 European Cup/Champions League wins: 0 Ballons d'Or: 0 League titles: 7 International caps/goals: 92/77 A teenage dream who was the highest-paid and highest-profile sports star in the world in his pomp, Pele was a phenomenon. Breaking on to the global scene aged 17 with a hat-trick in the World Cup semi-final and two more in the final, Brazil's leading goalscorer is one of just four players to have scored in four different World Cup tournaments (1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970). He won three of those and was kicked out of the '66 tournament in England through some brutal defending - the only way to stop him. Not just a goalscorer, Pele had a hand in 53% of Brazil's 19 goals as they won the 1970 World Cup (four goals, six assists) and was as adept at playing behind the main striker as he was leading the line. The greatest? Or does the fact he never played club football in Europe hold him back in your eyes? "Had he been playing now, Pele would surely have made the move to Europe," says BBC Radio 5 Live football correspondent John Murray. "It's the difficulty with comparing generations. We can only judge him on the record he has and it is truly phenomenal. "The achievements of Maradona, Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo make it a close call but, even now, Pele still has a strong claim to be considered the greatest game's greatest player." 2: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) World Cup wins: 0 European Cup/Champions League wins: 4 Ballons d'Or: 6 League titles: 10 International caps/goals: 140/71 No-one else does the things he does, the way he does them - and no-one ever has done. He is simply the greatest to have ever played the game." The words of Gary Lineker no less. Can you even mount an argument against Messi being number one on this list? We all know just how good he is. Perhaps a lack of international success with Argentina and 'only' winning things with Barcelona? But we're splitting hairs there. An absolute genius. 3: Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus & Portugal) World Cup wins: 0 European Cup/Champions League wins: 5 Ballons d'Or: 5 League titles: 7 International caps/goals: 167/101 The Champions League's all-time top goalscorer and scorer of 100 goals for Portugal - Cristiano Ronaldo is a remarkable player. Especially when you consider how he has reinvented himself from spindly winger to powerful number nine. Whether you rank him ahead of Messi or not is the debate of our footballing time - unlike Messi, though, he has won titles in three countries. And won a major tournament with his national side. 4: Diego Maradona (Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, Newell's Old Boys & Argentina) World Cup wins: 1986 European Cup/Champions League wins: 0 Ballons d'Or: 0 League titles: 3 International caps/goals: 91/34 What a player. If you haven't seen it, please go and watch the recent documentary about his time in Naples. It's superb. Single-handedly (pretty much) dragged his Argentina team to World Cup glory, and carried Napoli to two Serie A titles. Does that separate him from Lionel Messi? Up to you. 5: Johan Cruyff (Ajax, Barcelona, LA Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, Feyenoord & the Netherlands) World Cup wins: 0 European Cup/Champions League wins: 3 Ballons d'Or: 3 League titles: 10 International caps/goals: 48/33
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