"Better than Maradona, than Cristiano Ronaldo, than Lionel Messi....than Cruyff together" - Ex-Argentina star claims Brazil icon is the GOAT

Former Argentina goalkeeper Hugo Gatti has claimed that Brazil legend Pele is the greatest player of all time over Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and other legendary icons combined. He also gave his take on Ronaldo recently claiming that he was the GOAT.

Cristiano Ronaldo recently sat down for an interview with Edu Aguirre for the television program La Sexta. During a segment of the show, the 40-year-old bluntly stated that was the best and most complete player of all time. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner said (via Sportstar):

"I’m the best player in football history. I haven’t seen anyone better than me in football history, and I’m saying truth from my heart. I am the greatest scorer in history. Although I am not left-footed, I am in the top 10 in history for goals scored with the left foot. These are numbers, I am the most complete player who has ever existed. I play well with my head, I take good free kicks, I am fast, I am strong, I jump... I have never seen anyone better than me."

However, Gatti disagreed with Ronaldo's statement. He explained to Bolavip why he preferred the late Pele over other legends like Lionel Messi, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, and Ronaldinho. He responded:

"It is public knowledge that, for me, there is not, nor was there, nor will there be anyone like Pelé. Pelé is unrivalled, he was something else. Cristiano was very good in recent times, but he is not close to Pelé, nor are Maradona and Messi close to Pelé."

He continued, admitting that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi did not make his top-five list:

"But what he says has qualifications because he has been a champion of everything, a goalscorer and has played in the most important clubs in the world. It suits him well, he has more ego than me, but no, he is not the best in history. After that, for me, there are Cruyff, Maradona, Ronaldinho and Di Stéfano."

He added:

“In recent times, Cristiano was more important than Messi . He played for bigger clubs, he was a bigger scorer, he always takes a risk. You have to say “I am the best player in history”, I have not heard Messi or Maradona say that. And he says it to you. It doesn’t sound bad to him."

"I love Cristiano very much, but there was no one like Pelé and there will never be one. Pelé was better than Maradona, Cristiano, Messi, Ronaldinho, Cruyff together."

Renowned for his world-class finishing and vision, the late Pele established himself as one of football's greats. During his career between 1956 and 1977, he scored 1279 goals in 1363 appearances (including friendlies), notably winning three World Cups for Brazil.

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Taking a look at Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's career stats

Hugo Gatti boldly stated that Pele was the GOAT over Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi despite the latter two arguably being the best players of the current generation. Let's take a look at the stats to see the impact both superstars have made over the past two decades.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest male goalscorer of all time. He's garnered 924 goals and 257 assists in 1262 career appearances across competitions, excluding club friendlies. He has also won five Ballons d'Or, 33 trophies, and is going strong for Al-Nassr.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has accumulated 850 goals and 379 assists in 1083 career appearances excluding club friendlies. He has also won eight Ballons d'Or and 46 trophies - the most in football history.