Lionel Messi has surpassed Diego Maradona and Pele, according to an Argentina legend, who explains why the FC Barcelona talisman is the greatest player of all time.
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Osvaldo Ardiles, a former Tottenham Hotspur star who won the 1978 World Cup with Argentina, has insisted Messi must go down as the best player in history - whether he wins a World Cup or not.
"I would now say that Lionel Messi will go down in history as the number one player of all time, the best that there ever was.
"The big difference is that Maradona played in Argentina, then in Italy, while Pele stayed in Brazil, and during their time the pressures were less intense than they are now.
"Messi is under pressure all the time, and has to play in incredibly high intensity games all of the time, the Champions League being the perfect example.
"I certainly do not subscribe to the argument most widely held against Messi… that he needs to be a winner at the World Cup like Diego and Pele before he can be the world's greatest ever player.
"George Best never even played in the World Cup but he is still recognised as one of the all-time greatest; Di Stefano never won the World Cup, and Ryan Giggs has never played in one.
"It is an accident sometimes that you are born in a country of few inhabitants with little to no chance of that country playing in the World Cup. Compare that to Argentina and Brazil where there are 180 million people.
"Barcelona are a very, very good team, superb. But with Messi they are special, simple as that. Messi takes them to a different level.
"Spain won the World Cup and the Barca team has so many of their players, but Messi is by far their best player, and no team knows how to stop him, because he is unstoppable."
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