Lionel Messi has come under some quite remarkable criticism from Brazil legend Pele, who believes he is the better player than the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
The 78-year old, who won three World Cups and scored 77 goals in 92 games for Brazil, claims that Messi cannot use his weaker foot, cannot head the ball and only has one trick to his game.
"How can you make a comparison between a guy who heads the ball well, shoots with the left, shoots with the right and another who only shoots with one leg, only has one skill and doesn't head the ball well?" the former Santos forward told Folha de Sao Paulo, via The Mirror.
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"How can you compare? To compare with Pele, it has to be someone who shoots well with the left, shoots well with the right, and scores headers."
He also stated that Maradona was "much better" than Messi to continue his astonishing attack on the Barcelona captain.
Pele's comments are particularly weird given that he's praised Messi in the past and said he was the best player "in the past 10 years" when asked in 2015.
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But both he and Maradona have flip-flopped between loving and hating Messi. In October, Maradona questioned Messi's abilities as a leader and claims he goes to the toilet 20 times before a game.
"Messi's a great player, but he's not a leader," Maradona said to La Ultima Palabra Mexico on Fox Sports.
"Before talking to the Coach and players, he'll play on the PlayStation. Then, on the field, he wants to be the leader. He's the best in the world with Cristiano [Ronaldo].
"For me, it's difficult to say it but it's useless to make a leader out of a man who goes to the bathroom 20 times before a game.
Are Pele and Maradona talking nonsense? Are they afraid that Messi is making everyone forget about them?
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Sound off in the comments.
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