Often regarded as the best two players in the history of football, Pele and Diego Maradona are now kicking balls up in the sky while there is no doubting their ability on the pitch
Pele and Diego Maradona are undoubtedly two of the best football players of all time and their names are recognised across the globe.
However, the two feuded over the years with their rivalry including Maradona accusing Pele of being homosexual, arguments over Lionel Messi and shots at each other’s playing style.
The world is in a state of grief after the Brazilian legend died on Thursday at the age of 82 – two years after Maradona lost his life. The pair were rivals, but did reconcile in their latter years but not before a series of jibes.
Their rivalry appeared to begin in 2000, when both footballing legends released autobiographies in the same month that took barbs at one another. Just a year before, Maradona had alleged that Pele had a gay relationship with one of his coaches at Santos.
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In the book ‘Pele: His Life and Times’, friend Celso Grellet revealed Pele refrained from hitting back at Maradona because of his ill health at the time. He said: “Maradona had said that Pele had had a homosexual experience. It was never true, but Pele is a big man and decided that he would not respond.
“Pele is heavily involved in the anti-drugs campaign, particularly the abuse of drugs in sport, and Maradona was clearly an ill man.
“Pele thought it was best not to reply because no one could possibly take Maradona seriously. There is no doubt that Maradona has made ludicrous allegations, the one about Pele’s sexuality being just one of many, as a result of pure envy.”
In Maradona’s ‘I Am Diego’, the Argentine superstar savaged Pele, particularly his treatment of former team-mate Garrincha, when he wrote: “As a player he had it all but didn’t make the most of it to raise the status of football.
“I’d have liked to see him put himself forward as president of an association to defend players’ rights like I did. I’d like to have seen him look after Garrincha and not let him die in misery. I’d like to see him fight the rich and powerful that are damaging football.”
Their relationship actually started cordially before the debate raged over who was the greatest between them during the 80s as Maradona’s stardom blossomed. But the Napoli hero was left angered after Argentine President Carlos Menem made Pele his special guest of honour on a visit to the country.
Grellet, in ‘Pele: His Life and Times’, revealed: “Menem invited him to the country as his special guest because Pele was his favourite player. It angered Maradona that the Argentine people might place Pele above him.
“Pele has a lot of respect for Maradona as a player but felt that the media should not give any credence to the comments of an ill man. It would have been too easy to have said bad things about Maradona in return, but Pele would not do it.”
Pele also insisted that he and Maradona could not be compared, saying: “I can’t explain why Maradona is so concerned with that. Because I always say that he was one of the best in the world, and that’s true.
“Now, we can’t say that Maradona was a great header. He didn’t score goals with headers. And we cannot say Maradona shot very well with both feet, because he didn’t shoot with his right, only mainly with his left…
“So from time to time, when people make comparisons, I make jokes about that. For me he was a great player, just that you can’t compare Maradona with Pele.”
And both footballing legends even bickered over Messi and Neymar – the poster boys for Argentina and Brazil – just like what Pele and Maradona were back in their heydays. Maradona denied saying that Neymar was “ill-mannered, just like Pele” but that did not stop the Santos legend chiming in.
“Messi better than Pele? To get there he needs to score more than 1,283 goals,” Pele said. “Neymar has great talent. I hope Neymar doesn’t end up like Messi, who plays so well for his club but does nothing for his country.”
There has even been an argument over money when Netflix released a documentary on Pele, which would have earned him up to $5million based on the show’s popularity. Members of Maradona’s family were not happy with that and demanded Amazon pay them even more.
The pair did reconcile in their latter years (Image: Mikhail Metzel\TASS via Getty Images)
However, before Maradona’s death in 2019 the two did reconcile and ended their feud back in 2016. They were seen embracing at the Palais Royal in Paris while after Pele’s hip surgery, Maradona said: “It is really nice to see him like this, healthy, and being able to join us.
“I’m happy that he’s fine. We should hang together always. And enough of the fighting, enough of the barbs between us. I want to thank Pele, we know who he is and who he will always be. We need icons like him.”
Pele replied: “This is moment of peace. What we’re doing is something for peace and unity. I want to thank my friend Maradona for this opportunity.”
