Before Lionel Messi burst on to the scene of  the most enduring debate in football about who was the greatest player, it  involved two men: Diego Maradona and Pele.

It remains an unsettled debate that has been raging in bars and over barbeques. From the streets of Naples to the boutique hotels in Netherlands, it has fans divided in awe of the prowess of their idol.

However, the two South Americans got on well when they met for the first time in 1979, when Maradona flew to Rio, capital of Brazil  to meet Pele, a three time worldcupper. 

Maradona guided a tepid Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 with perhaps the most commanding performance ever at a major tournament. And four years later, though the magic of his wizardry was on the wane, he was as spirited as a starry -eyed teenager.

Pele was the consummate striker who conquered the territory of penalty box like no other.
He was always focussed, calm and stranger to controversies. He had the eloquence of a master on the pitch, and off it, he wore the euqanimity that belonged to the meditative monks.

He had a great team always at service and didn't have to encounter the roughness of European football. But Maradona faced the worst of European football and took the hits on his chin. Bruised and battered, he pushed the limits of everything-- both on and off the pitch.

Neither blood nor defeats deterred him, and he led from front an Napoli to the pnnacle of glory, a feat that made the city rediscover it's pride and place.
Maradona was temperamental to the point of being wayward and at times ruddderless in his personal life. He was deeply political wore the ersey of a romantic rebel. Emotional and Evangelical. Gritless he seemed when addiction got better off him.

“There Maradona, possibly the most complete player ever, playmaker and goalscorer, technically brilliant, unpredictable and impulsive, both on and off the field, a player plagued by a variety of problems for many year," commented FIFA who had voted both men as the players of the century about Maradona.