- Brazilian soccer legend Pele, who died December 29, made some outrageous claims over his life.
- Alongside insisting goals he scored for the Brazilian military count towards his all-time goal total, he also called Neymar average.
- He also recalled that he once made a goalkeeper cry so much he had to be substituted in a game.
He claimed he was once pointed out by Elton John at one of his concerts, and had to leave before being swamped by admirers.
—Pelé (@Pele) March 25, 2019He claimed he was better than Lionel Messi because the Argentine only has "one skill."
Speaking with Folha de Sao Paulo in 2018, Pele was asked if Messi was a better player than him, to which he replied: "How can you make a comparison between a guy who heads the ball well, shoots with the left, shoots with the right and another who only shoots with one leg, only has one skill and doesn't head the ball well?
"How can you compare? To compare with Pele, it has to be someone who shoots well with the left, shoots well with the right and scores headers."
He said he once made an opposition goalkeeper cry so much they had to be substituted.
—Pelé (@Pele) February 25, 2019He said former Liverpool midfielder Nick Barmby was as good as Zinedine Zidane.
"Nick Barmby is up there with Zinedine Zidane, Paolo Maldini and Ronaldo [Nazario]," Pele once said, according to Goal.
While Barmby had a decent start to his career, he flopped following his move from Everton to Liverpool in 2000 and never recaptured his form, spending the majority of his final years in England's lower leagues.
Zidane, on the other hand, won 17 major honors during his career, including the World Cup and European Championship, and also scooped the Ballon d'Or in 1998.
He called Neymar average.
"For the national team, he's just an ordinary player," Pele told O Estado de Sao Paulo of his countryman back in 2013, as reported by Reuters.
"He's got a huge responsibility and his greatest concern is to change his style, change his haircut."
Since, Neymar recently tied Pelé's national record for international goals, scoring his 77th in Brazil's quarterfinal loss to Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar earlier this month.
He said a referee once sent him off, but changed his mind under pressure from the crowd, and instead sent himself off.
—Pelé (@Pele) August 23, 2018In 2002, he said Brazil wouldn't get out of their group at the World Cup. They went on to win the tournament.
He said there will be never be another Pelé because his mother "closed the factory."
"People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never," he told French newspaper Le Monde in 2012."
"My father and mother have closed the factory."
Pelé would consistently assert that he was the top scorer in the history of football, a claim that is disputed.
Pelé says he scored 1,283 goals in his career, a total that includes more than 500 goals scored in unofficial friendlies and exhibition games.
In officially sanctioned games Pelé scored 757 goals, which ranks third in history, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Czech striker Josef Bican.
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