Whenever football stories are told, Diego Armando Maradona’s and Edson Arantes do Nascimento’ s names are never far from the picture. Well, you may not have heard the second name, ever, but you probably have heard of Pele, the nickname of its owner.
The two have continued to grace football headlines years after their retirement, both for what they did in their playing days and what they continue to do today.
Maradona
The Argentine legend is never a storyless character for a news writer. He made his name as a football wonder in his playing days which spanned over two decades between 1976 and 1997. He is mostly remembered for his role in the 1986 world cup when he captained Argentina to glory with some outrageous drama in the process.
It was in that World Cup that he scored the famous ‘hand of God’ goal and the ‘goal of the century’ which culminated from a 66-yard dribb
le. The two goals bundled England out of the World Cup, set Argentina on the way to glory and earned Maradona a legendary football status.
Off the pitch, he has had a lot of drama in his personal life and in football management, including as the head coach of the Argentina national team.
Pele
A stark contrast in character to Maradona, Pele is much more gentlemanly and comely. That speaks nothing of his football heroics though. Widely regarded Brazil’s greatest footballer, Pele was a magician in the football world between the late 1950s and the early 70s.
Ever prolific in front of goal, Pele scored over a thousand goals in his career and shadowed Maradona by winning both the footballer and athlete of the century in 1999.
He often stirs controversy with claims of greatness made on social media.