CELEBRITY
WHO IS THE ‘GOAT’? PELÉ, MARADONA OR MESSI
Brazilian football great Pele, who celebrates his 80th birthday on Friday (Oct 23), is still revered in his home country even if his once unassailable position as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) is now a matter for hot debate.
The Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil striker is the only man to win the World Cup three times and was for decades widely held to be the greatest of all time (GOAT).
However, the arrival of Diego Maradona in the 1990s challenged Pele’s hegemony and the phenomenal exploits of Lionel Messi at Barcelona have intensified further the eternal debate over who is the GOAT.
The man known in Brazil as the King traded barbs with Maradona for years and has more recently sought to play down Messi’s designs on his crown, saying the Argentine has only one foot and cannot head the ball as well as he did.
That raised eyebrows in Europe where Messi has won four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles, while scoring 40 goals or more in each of the last 10 seasons.
The Argentine, and his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, have millions of fans supporting them and unlike Pele, who played before television was ubiquitous, their exploits reach billions across the globe via social media.
“If you’re talking about the best player ever, there shouldn’t even be a debate that it is Messi,” BBC presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker said in May. “That’s just my opinion but it’s not even close for me.”
Argentines question Pele’s greatness because he never played in Europe and Brazilians point to Messi’s international record, which is vastly inferior to Pele’s.
While the Brazilian won three World Cups, Messi has never won a major title with Argentina, appearing on the losing side in three Copa America and one World Cup final.
Brazilians, however, see Pele as a national treasure and ahead of his birthday on Friday they are celebrating with special newspaper sections, TV specials and an exhibition at the Football Museum.
“He’s a living legend, we have to revere our idols while they’re still alive and still with us,” said Gabriel Oliveira, a visitor to the exhibition in Sao Paulo. “He’s done so much. Thanks to him Brazil is known the world over.”
-Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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