Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi no match for Pele, claims Brazilian legend Tostao

In an interview with FIFA's official website, Brazilian great Tostao has claimed that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo can match the legendary Pele in terms of skill and quality on the ball.

In addition to saying that Pele remains the better overall player, Tostao also stated that a hybrid of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was the ideal player and could provide stiff competition to the Brazilian legend.

🗣 "Si tomas las cualidades de Cristiano Ronaldo y Messi, las juntas, ¡entonces tendrías un jugador para comparar con Pelé!" - Tostão (ex compañero del Rey)🤔 ¿Qué opinas? pic.twitter.com/g5rW6TSbjY

— Goal en español (@Goal_en_espanol) July 7, 2020

According to the former attacking midfielder, Pele was far more lethal in the final third than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and possessed a dangerous combination of the best qualities of the two modern-day legends.

“I think Pele was better than all of them. For me, there's no comparison. Pele was far more complete. He had every quality that a forward could have. He didn't have one defect."

---

---

Pele is better than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, claims former Brazilian midfielder

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo often steal the show at award ceremonies

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are unquestionably the best players in the world. The two enigmatic forwards have been dominating world football for well over a decade and share an incredible 11 Ballon d'Or awards between them.

The debate surrounding the best football player in the history has been raging on since the inception of the game and has featured both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo alongside the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona for several years now.

Tostao, however, believes that Pele was a more well-rounded player than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and was unstoppable in his prime.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is an exceptional player, but he doesn't have the ability that Pele had and he doesn't pull off the incredible passes that Pele did."

"Si se juntan en un solo hombre todas las cualidades de Cristiano Ronaldo y Messi, el resultado será un futbolista que pueda resistir la comparación con Pelé".🇧🇷 𝗧𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗼, 🏆 en #México1970

— Copa Mundial FIFA 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_es) June 30, 2020

Pele won three World Cups with Brazil and his mesmerising dribbling skills and lethal goalscoring prowess changed the landscape of football in the 1950s. Tostao claimed that while Lionel Messi is a brilliant player, Pele was more versatile in terms of the options he could use to find the back of the net.

"Lionel Messi is spectacular, but he doesn't head the ball like Pele did, he doesn't shoot as well with both feet, he doesn't pull off the moves that Pele did."

Pele officially scored an incredible 757 goals in a legendary career spanning over 20 years. In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo has 728 goals and Lionel Messi breached the 700-goal mark with a penalty against Atletico Madrid earlier this month.

Lionel Messi joined the 700-club with an excellent penalty

Tostao went on to say that a hybrid of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would create a player that could potentially recreate Pele's magic.

"If you take the qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, put them together, then you'd have a player to compare to Pele!"

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the best players in the history of the beautiful. Over the course of an intense and era-defining rivalry, the two have pushed each other to greater heights and still continue to dominate the football world.

While Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have certainly proved their credentials and will go down as bonafide legends of the game, comparisons with the all-time greats of football are unlikely to die down any time soon.

---