Brazilian icon Pele is synonymous with football. He started playing at age fifteen and scored in his first game. He would go on to win three world cups and be named the greatest player of the century in 1999.

So it’s no surprise that reporters often ask Pele to split the difference between the two players that take center stage of the “greatest player” discussion currently: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

“It’s very difficult to make a comparison of players of different generations”

“But in the last 10 years Messi was the best. Ronaldo plays forward and tries to score, while Messi plays with a different style. In my team I would love to have both.”

Pele also is a big supporter of Neymar and the entire Barcelona team. He’s remarked that the squad plays much like Brazil did back in his playing days, and that he’d love to have had the opportunity to play alongside Messi and Neymar.

Pele never played for Barcelona, but he did compete in Camp Nou in 1963. Pele’s Santos would lose the match to the home team 2-0.