Famous former striker Marco Van Basten said that current football superstar Lionel Messi does not have enough personality and leadership qualities, so he was excluded from the group of 3 best players of all time.

Van Basten – who played his last match in 1993 at the age of 28 before retiring due to injury, told France Football the following: “For me, Pele, Maradona and Johan Cruyff are the three greatest players in history. When I was young, I wanted to be like Cruyff. Pele and Maradona were also amazing.”

 

Van Basten himself admitted that Messi almost made his list. However, Van Basten removed the name of the 2022 World Cup champion when compared to Maradona. “Messi is also an excellent player, but Maradona has more personality. Messi is not the leader in battles. I also do not forget Cristiano Ronaldo, Michel Platini or Zinedine Zidane.”

 

To date, the late Pele has won the World Cup three times with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970. But on the other hand, Pele has never gone to Europe to play at the club level and win the Golden Ball. . From its inception in 1956 until 1994, the Golden Ball was only for European players. In 1995, the title was expanded to players playing in Europe, then expanded to the world.

 

Maradona won the World Cup championship in 1986. But the late Argentine player did not have the Golden Ball and the C1/Champions League cup. Meanwhile, Cruyff has never won a World Cup. Cruyff has 3 Golden Balls, like Van Basten and Michel Platini, when he was honored in 1971, 1973 and 1974. He also won 3 consecutive C1/Champions League cups with Ajax in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

 

Like Cruyff, Van Basten has never won a World Cup. But he has three Golden Balls in 1988, 1989, 1992, two C1/Champions League in 1989, 1990 and the EURO 1988 championship. Currently Van Basten is the Technical Director of FIFA.

Messi holds two records of winning 7 Golden Balls and 44 collective titles, including 4 C1/Champions League. In 2022, the 36-year-old striker leads Argentina to win the World Cup for the first time since Maradona. Messi is also the only person to have won the World Cup Golden Ball twice – the award for the best player at the world championship.