MY ACCOUNT
Pele is the greatest of all time for Peter Reid, though the former England midfielder knows there is not much to choose between the Brazil legend, Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi.
Argentina’s World Cup success in Qatar has surely cemented Messi’s place as the greatest player of his generation, though whether the 35-year-old will go down as the best of ever is open for debate.
Messi has now matched his late compatriot Maradona in dragging Argentina to World Cup glory, with the late, great former captain lifting the trophy at Mexico 1986.
Reid played for England against Argentina in the famous ‘Hand of God’ game in that tournament and was left in Maradona’s wake for the mercurial number 10’s second goal of the match, which has been immortalised as ‘The Goal of the Century’.
Reid, though, quipped Pele – a winner of three World Cups – was his pick.
“Erm, Pele,” Reid joked when asked by Stats Perform who was the best out of Messi and Maradona. “They’re all icons of the game.”
Reid is pleased to see Messi finally get his hands on the only trophy that had been missing from his collection.
“Yeah, I think he’s been an absolutely outstanding footballer and it was the one major trophy that he hadn’t won, and I think he’s a credit to himself on the park and off the park,” he said.
He added of the tournament: “I thought there was some great games, I thought the best team won it and I still don’t know the penalty rule. I haven’t got a clue what a penalty is these days, but I did enjoy it, I’ve got to say.”
It was a similar story for Liverpool great Ian Rush, who enjoyed his experience in Qatar supporting Wales.
“I was out there and from a Welsh point of view it was a privilege to be there, 1958 was last time we qualified so no matter where the World Cup was going to be, I was going to be there because it’s the first time I have gotten the chance to see Wales playing at the World Cup,” Rush told Stats Perform.
“But I enjoyed it and I really enjoyed the World Cup out there. The people were very friendly. It’s the icing on the cake for Messi to get his hands on the World Cup.”
