Pele vs Maradona

This week I am looking at Pele and Maradona. The two greatest footballers ever from the two best football nations ever. Brazil and Argentina share a fierce dislike of each other when it comes to football, and these players both have their own opinions on who is better.

Pele is the elder of the two and was active as a player from 1956 to 1977, mainly playing as a forward. The majority of his club career was spent with Santos, where he scored 470 goals at more than a goal a game. This was at a time when there was no national league in Brazil. He finished his club career in New York. Pele had great success on the international stage as well, winning three world cups with Brazil while scoring 77 goals in 92 appearances.

Maradona's career began just as Pele's was ending. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder or in the hole. He played his club career for a variety of clubs in Argentina and Europe, but the two he made the biggest effect at were Boca Juniors and Napoli. Maradona scored 311 goals in 590 appearances in club football, and won trophies in Argentina, Italy and Spain. Maradona also had a very successful international career, winning the World Cup with Argentina in 1986. In this tournament he had his most famous moments, particularly the quarter final against England. In this game he scored the 'hand of god' goal as well as the goal that was voted by fifa as the greatest in history, taking the ball from his own half to take on several players to put the ball in the net.

When looking at their careers Pele certainly had more success on the big stage with three world cup wins. He also scored more goals than Maradona, one of the few statistics in football that count. Maradona did have more success in club football, but Pele played in an era where there was no national championship in Brazil. While Maradona scored less, he did play a deeper role as either a midfielder or in the hole, positions which are more for playmakers than finishers. For player who played this type of role Maradona's scoring record is phenomenal, and in the process with his brilliant dribbling and close control provided an excellent highlight real.

Despite this I do have to say Pele had the better career of the two. He won the the biggest trophy (not just in football but in sport) more times. He has a goal scoring record that will be extremely difficult to break. I do like Maradona better though. Most of his detractors point to his somewhat ridiculous existence outside of football (drug and alcohol abuse, health and weight problems) and say he lacks credibility. However the highlightsl he supplied and his faults in his personal life make me admire him more, especially now that he has overcome them to become Argentina's coach. If he can deliver a world cup as a coach, perhaps his football career as a whole could be finally considered better than Peles...