BRAZILIAN legend Pele says both Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney need to perform on the highest international stages before they can be considered world class. The 71-year-old claims that being exceptional for your club and being exceptional for your country are two completely different things, and only the best can perform at both levels.
“I think a ‘great’ player is defined by their performances at the World Cup,” Pele told The Sun. “For example, watch Lionel Messi play for Barcelona. He is very good. Exceptional. But for Argentina, he’s completely different.”
“Compare him to Zinedine Zidane. He won the World Cup and was at the top for 15 years. He was a more complete player than Messi.
When asked about Wayne Rooney, although the three-time World Cup winner said he was a “fan” of the 26-year-old, he was far from complimentary about his behaviour.
“I am a very big fan of Rooney. He always fights for the team. He is not too technical, his strength is his heart,” said Pele. “He’s a good player. But you can’t really compare him to me. I scored a lot of goals. I don’t know if Rooney has.”
Pele believes Rooney’s passion sometimes gets the best of him.
“His aggression is a big part of his game — you cannot take that away from him,” he explained. “But a player does have a responsibility to behave himself. It’s hard to change the personality of the player but maybe they can adjust.”
It wasn’t just current players who incurred the wrath of the Brazilian, even past players such as Maradona were criticised for their flaws.
“Maradona only had one foot and was not good in the air,” he stated. “He was a great player but what happened in the World Cup finals in 1994 tarnished his image, when he got sent home for taking drugs.”
He added, “Cruyff was much more interesting. He was different to Maradona, more complete.”
Pele had his say on another Argentine, blasting Carlos Tevez for his on-and-off-the-field antics of late.
“It’s not good for football but this is just one player”, he said. “Coaches should be more important than players – they have to be.”
“It’s important to behave on and off the pitch. If they mess up, they should pay the penalty.” Pele said: “That’s who I am. I respect my country, my club, my work.” (Goal.com)