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| WorldCupBlog Poll: Pelé vs Diego Maradona Posted: 26 Aug 2009 02:26 PM PDT
But then Digeo Maradona intervened. Here’s what El Diego said in an interview with FIFA.com to hype the upcoming Argentina vs Brazil World Cup qualifier (September 5th people, mark your diaries)…
Q: There’s a constant debate between Brazilians and Argentinians over whether Pele or you is the world’s best ever player. Is it possible to make a comparison given you played in completely different eras? Tell us what you really think Diego! El Pibe De Oro is right that he topped a poll on FIFA.com. But he neglects to remember that Pelé came top in a separate poll, leading FIFA to recognize them jointly. From a January 2001 FIFA article:
So, somewhat predictably, we’ll put it to a poll here on WorldCupBlog. Who was the better footballer: Pelé? Maradona? Or someone else altogether? If you choose “Other”, please let us know who in the comments. |
| How Many Rings On That Nigerian Tree Again? Posted: 26 Aug 2009 08:10 AM PDT
This all came about through MRI age determination testing conducted recently, and the total of 15 is actually a bit less than speculated. It was originally thought Nigeria would be showing up at the tourney with precisely 7 players in town, but at least now they can field a full team.
The only next course of action is to release the actual determined ages of these players so we can chuckle when it’s revealed a bunch of 30 year olds were trying to pass off as 16. It’ll be like 90210 all over again. There’s another worry about this finding which will probably be looked at once the furor of the upcoming tournament dissipates: the Nigerian kiddie teams have been good in recent history. Really damn good. In fact they’ve won this particular tournament three times since 1985, a feat only equaled by those Brazilian cats, who tend to be half-decent at the football thing. Chances are some of their recent successes will be up for review (though what can be done about it is a mystery). But the good news is the FIFA U-17 World Cup isn’t until late October, so Nigerian authorities will have ample time to find players in their mid-20’s who will be able to pass the tests with flying colors. |
The question of Pelé vs Diego Maradona and who is the greatest footballer of all time, is largely pointless. Both were brilliant, but in different positions and slightly different eras. Plus the debate is somewhat disrespectful to the likes of George Best, Johan Cruyff, Ferenc Puskás, Eusébio and others. So I’d decided never to raise the question here on WorldCupBlog.
If someone were to announce that a significant number of African footballers have slightly fictitious birth certificates, nary a gasp would be heard in the room. When matters like birth certificates are handled all loosey goosey (technical term) and date of births more a guesstimate than exact science, it’s easy to see how some would want to take advantage of this to make some money, win a few more trophies. But just how many might be worth a slight gasp: 15 of 38 players have been booted from the Nigerian U-17 football team for age cheating before the FIFA U17 World Cup.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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