Dutch great Marco van Basten has revealed that Argentina star, Lionel Messi is not in the top three of all time greatest players.
According to the former AC Milan striker, the former Barcelona star, who has won seven Ballon d’Ors, is not the game’s greatest.
“Pele, [Diego] Maradona and [Johan] Cruyff are for me the three greatest players in history,” he told France Football.
“As a kid I wanted to be like Cruyff. He was my friend. I miss him. Pele and Maradona were also incredible.
“Messi is also a great player, but Maradona always had more personality in a team. Messi is not the one who puts himself at the front to go to war.”
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Basten is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he scored 300 goals in a high-profile career, but played his last match in 1993, at the of age 28, due to an injury which forced his retirement two years later.[2] He was later the head coach of Ajax and the Netherlands national team.
Known for his close ball control, attacking intelligence, impeccable headers, and spectacular strikes and volleys, Van Basten was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1992 and won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1992. At club level, he won three Eredivisie titles and the Cup Winners’ Cup with Ajax, and four Serie A titles and three European Cups with Milan. With the Netherlands, Van Basten won UEFA Euro 1988 where he earned the Golden Boot, scoring five goals, including a memorable volley in the final against the Soviet Union
2 Comments
Greatness is determined after your career is over not while in action; however, you should be able see to where the individual athlete will fall when their career is over. Di Stefano, Pele and Maradona are the 3 greatest to have played soccer/football. The question is who will Messi replace once his career is over in another 5 years. If Messi finally wins a WC, he will have won at every level. He will have transcended the game like only a few have done on a global stage. You are talking like Ali, MJ, Gretzky, Maradona, etc.
We loved you Marco but not listing Messi as a great player sound funny to me. The records, achievements, artistry and display must be used as the criteria to judge and to me and many others,Messi is outstanding.