Pele vs Maradona: A Look at Bitter Feud Between the Two Legends

• Pele passed away on December 29, two years after the passing of Diego Maradona
• The two legends enjoyed a great friendship in latter years, but were not always so
• Over the years, the two have taken jibes at each other from play styles to sexuality

Pele and Maradona are regarded as two of the greatest footballers to ever grace the game, and rightfully so.

The world is still coming to terms with the passing of Pele, who recently lost his battle with cancer.

The three-time FIFA World Cup winner's footballing exploits made him one of the rare sportspeople to transcend his discipline, becoming revered and respected by the great and the unknown the world over.

On the other hand, Maradona passed away on November 20, 2020, and veteran football fans now have a strange sense of warmth in the knowledge the pair is perhaps reunited in the afterlife.

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Maradona and Pele enjoyed quite a decent relationship, despite their two-decade age gap.

But as reported by Daily Star, this was not always the case and in their heyday, they took numerous jabs at each other.

Rivalry from autobiographies

Their rivalry stems back to the year 2000, when they both released anticipated autobiographies in the same month.

A year earlier, Maradona had come out with explosive claims that Pele had a sexual relationship with one of his coaches at Santos.

But Pele’s friend Celso Grellet revealed in the book Pele: His Life and Times that the Brazilian legend refrained from hitting back at the claims, because he was focused on his health at the time.

In the book, it was claimed that Pele also opted not to respond because no one would ‘take Maradona seriously’, especially with the Argentine’s past alleged abuse of drugs.

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Maradona also had his own autobiography I am Diego, where he savagely critiqued Pele.

The 1986 World Cup winner’s beef with the Brazil icon was said to mainly revolve around his treatment of the Argentine's former teammate Garrincha.

"As a player, he had it all but didn't make the most of it to raise the status of football."

In Maradona's book, he said he would have liked to see Pele put himself forward as an association president to defend players' rights, as the Argentine had.

"I'd like to have seen him look after Garrincha and not let him die in misery. I'd like to see him fight the rich and powerful that are damaging football."

The debate on who was the greatest ever player also did little to help the rivalry between the two players.

Maradona was rising to glory in the 80s, and the conversation on the greatest footballer ever had started to edge away from Pele a little.

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At one time, their rivalry played out publicly after then-President of Argentina, Carlos Menem invited Pele to the country as a special guest of honor.

Maradona was reportedly angered that the people of Argentina would rank Pele higher than himself.

In terms of the infamous GOAT debate, Pele also once had some interesting things to say about his continental rival.

He acknowledged the Argentine’s prowess in football, but was also quick to point out the Napoli legend’s flaws in his game.

"Now, we can’t say that Maradona was a great header. He didn’t score goals with headers. And we cannot say Maradona shot very well with both feet, because he didn’t shoot with his right, only mainly with his left… He said as quoted by Soccerphile.

Pele was embarrassed in Kenya

Sports Brief also reported on an incident that saw Pele denied a chance to play an exhibition match in Nairobi and Mombasa, during his Kenya tour of 1976.

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Football head honcho at the time, Kenneth Matiba decried a lack of consultation and thus refused to facilitate the Brazilian's visit.

In 1976, Pele engaged students at the Starehe Boys Centre as part of an initiative he had signed with the Pepsi company.