Goal.com Polls

Poll Results: Maradona Better Than Pele

The readers have spoken, and they have done so in favour of Diego Maradona. The Argentine ace was the clear winner when put up against Pele for the title of world's greatest...

Nov 18, 2008 10:05:54 AM

Photo Gallery

Zoom

Pele vs. Maradona (GOAL.com Indonesia)

Related Links

While we wait for a player that can outshine Pele or Maradona, it's always worth asking which of these two heroes is better.

Goal.com readers, having deliberated and voted over the past six days, are in no doubt: Maradona picked up 61% of the vote to end up as a clear winner. As voter Michael from Rochester, USA, put it:

"Maradona was by far the better player. Pele's World Cup glory came from the outstanding players around him, some of whom scored more goals than he did in the tournament. Without a brilliant supporting cast, Pele wouldn't be more than an average player. Maradona on the other hand had the ability to dictate play on his own and drag his team to victory, much like he did with Argentina in the World Cup. It's safe to say Diego wins this by far. Pele is just an overrated soccer politician."

39% went for Pele, though, including Marlon from Montreal:

"Funny, this poll - as if there was a doubt! Pele scored more goals with his left foot than Maradona's total goals tally. Let' not mention Pele 's overall superiority in the air, his passing ability, all his assists during WC 70, and the fact that his record of trophies is much higher than Maradona . I am not even mentioning fair play and the off field behaviour that define true champion! Maradona is not even a close second, except for people from Argentina maybe. Case closed."

There were other dissenting voices who marked out other players as the best: Zinedine Zidane was a popular option, as was Ronaldo.

Of course, this doesn't settle this historic issue. The discussion rages on in our football forums...

--Goal.com team