Quote Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa View Post
Those two will score more competitive goals than Pele. Pele counted club friendlies, Messi's stats don't include them. Pele also played most of his games in the Campeonato Paulista, which is the state league of Sao Paulo which features sides well down the league ladder and meant he rarely played against the bigger sides from Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte or Gremio. Not detracting from Pele at all but you can't use that as a stick to hit Messi or Ronaldo with.
With respect Messi and Ronaldo have had plenty of soft games in Spain against cannon fodder , perhaps not to the extent Pele did but
neither of them will win 3 World Cups spread over 12 years against the best teams in the world.