Messi, Ronaldo, Pele: Marco van Basten names 7 greatest footballers ever

The Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate is one that has raged on for some time and will continue to for many years.

The two players have shattered record-after-record in their careers.

Now 37 and 34 respectively, both players are still going strong.

But who is the greater player?

Marco van Basten was a great player himself. The Dutchman is regarded as one of the greatest strikers in the history of the sport.

He won the Ballon d’Or three times during his career (1988, 1989, 1992). He won three European Cup titles with AC Milan and won Euro 1988 with Holland.

He has now given his thoughts on the Ronaldo vs Messi debate. In fact, he doesn’t think there should be a debate at all.

“Cristiano is a great player, but those who say he is better than Messi know nothing about football, or they are saying it in bad faith,” the 57-year-old told Corriere dello Sport, per the Daily Mail.

“Messi is one of a kind. Impossible to imitate and impossible to repeat. A player like him comes along every 50 or 100 years. As a kid, he fell into the football genius pot.”

Despite his praise of Messi, the Argentine does not make it into his top three greatest players.

“Pele, [Diego] Maradona and [Johan] Cruyff are for me the three greatest players in history,” Van Basten told Marca.

“As a kid I wanted to be like Cruyff. He was my friend. I miss him. Pele and Maradona were also incredible.

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“Messi is also a great player, but Maradona always had more personality in a team. Messi is not the one who puts himself at the front to go to war.”

Van Basten also named three other players, as well as Messi, just behind his top three.

“I’m not forgetting