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Sunday Oliseh believes that neither Messi nor Ronaldo is the GOAT, picking Brazilian World Cup winner, Pele, as the GOAT of the football elders
Super Eagles ex-midfielder and ex-coach Sunday Oliseh has weighed in on the debate about the greatest footballer of all time, and decided to ignore the modern greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in making his choice.
Despite Messi’s recent brilliant performance at the World Cup which earned him his second World Cup Golden ball, Oliseh believes that there is someone still ahead of the Argentine.
The former Ajax and Juventus midfielder has said that he recognises only Pele, the Brazilian who has won the World Cup three times as the GOAT of football, and the one who current footballers look to for inspiration to excel.
“The young ones will not be happy”
Speaking to AriseTV, Oliseh who served on the FIFA Technical Study Group for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, said he would stand by his choice despite drawbacks he expects to face from younger football fans who never saw the great man play, and also said he believed that Pele would never be eclipsed in football history.
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“This is what everybody is getting inspiration from to excel in their football careers. His name is Pele. He is the greatest player of All Time, G.O.A.T.
“You cannot win three world cups, and anybody will want to compete with you.
“I know people, especially the young ones, will not be happy with my choice, but those of us who are elderly can identify with him.”
Pele is Oliseh’s GOAT for a reason
Pele won three World Cups with Brazil and countless other titles with Brazilian club Santos, as well as a host of individual awards.
He is one of the few people in the World who can say that they have won consecutive World titles, something that Kylian Mbappe almost achieved with France in Qatar 2022.
For all their claim to greatness, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have only one World Cup between them, won by Messi in what is expected to be their last World Cup tournament.
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Oliseh, who represented Nigeria at two World Cups in 1994 and 1998 certainly understands the difficulty of playing in the World Cup and winning even one title, so it is understandable that he picks Pele who has won three as his GOAT.
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