It may be a case of opinions but the king of Brazilian football, Pele, has set a fact as the line that would determine whether current FIFA Ballon d’Or titleholder Lionel Messi is better than him.
Among the World Football’s numerous hot topics is the Lionel Messi vs Pele debate. Many top journalists, coaches and players have had their take on this matter with Barcelona midfield maestro Xavi branding La Pulga as “the best player of all time—better than Pele, [Diego] Maradona or Cruyff.”

Back in May this year, 1978 FIFA World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles gave a complete explanation of his opinion about Lionel Messi being actually the best player the world has ever seen.

“For some time, I had thought that Diego [Maradona] could never be surpassed, and nor could Pele. But no longer,” Ossie told the media.

“I would now say that Lionel Messi will go down in history as the number 1 player of all time, the best that there ever was. The big difference is that Maradona played in Argentina, then in Italy.

“Meanwhile, Pele stayed in Brazil, and during their time, the pressures were less intense than they are now. Messi is under pressure all the time, and has to play in incredibly high intensity games all of the time—the Champions League being the perfect example.”

But many insist that no matter how Lionel Messi’s individual skills rate, the player will always remain behind the legendary Pele due to his lack of major honors with Argentina’s national football team. Lionel Messi is young and perhaps time will help him emulate Pele’s feat of winning three FIFA World Cup titles.

And for all those who love comparing World Football’s talents, Pele gave harsh quotes on Thursday as O Rei seems determined to protect his seat as soccer’s irreplaceable gift.

“Messi better than Pele? To get there, he needs to score more than 1283 goals.”

“And Neymar [who recently inspired Santos to their first Copa Libertadores title in 48 years] has great talent. I hope Neymar doesn't end up like Messi, who plays so well for his club [Barcelona] but does nothing for his country [Argentina].”

Messi has remained rather quiet on debates opposing him to Pele. But if concerned, La Pulga keep talking on the pitch. Lionel Messi has an immense chance of making the year 2011 an historic one. After helping Barcelona conquer Europe, La Pulga might at last power Argentina to cup success through the Copa America.