Pelé: “It will be easier for Messi to shine more than Ronaldo in this World Cup”

by Guilherme Neto

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi in World Cup wallpaper

The only player to have won 3 FIFA World Cups, Edson Arantes do Nascimento but better known as just Pelé, has recently granted an interview where he approached several interesting topics about this summer’s tournament.

As every other Brazilian out there, Pelé is also dreaming with his nation becoming World Champion in their own country, which would mean they would obtain their 6th World Cup in the history of the game. However, there are a few opponents out there with enough potential to threat suddenly turning this dream into a nightmare…

Pelé: “The best National Team of all-time was the Brazilian one, but this Spanish squad is also a terrific one.Their biggest strength is that they’ve been playing together for the past 8 years, they know each other to perfection and that’s one of the main reasons why I rate them as the best team in this tournament”, started by remarking ‘The King’.

When it comes to advance with a shortlist of favorites to win the World Cup, at least one of the teams names suggested by Pelé might sound surprising to most of us…

Pelé: “In my opinion, the strongest teams in Europe are Spain and Germany, since both Italy and England are currently a bit weaker. They all are in the same group of favorites as Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I actually think that Chile will be the biggest surprise in this World Cup”, revealed the greatest player of all-time.

Beyond all the duels that we’ll be having in this World Cup, there’s one in particular that promises to draw its fair of attention, especially if both Argentina and Portugal end up going further in the competition and meeting each other at a later stage. We’re obviously referring to the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Messi rivalry…

Pelé: “They are two very different players. I think that Cristiano Ronaldo will depend greatly on what his teammates are able to do on the pitch. He’s a terrific goalscorer, but he also relies a lot on what the players around him are capable of doing. As for Messi, he has a great support in the Argentina Team, with Higuaín, Aguero, Di María… In my honest opinion, I think it will be easier for Lionel Messi to end up shining in this World Cup than Cristiano Ronaldo”, concluded the former Brazilian player, two days ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup kickoff in his country.

Sources: skysports.com / marca.com