Pele would have surpassed the achievements of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had he played in the modern era.
That is according to Jocky Scott, who faced the Brazil great in the final competitive game of his career in 1977.
Pele, who died last week aged 82, ended his remarkable playing career with a two-year stint at the North American Soccer League's New York Cosmos, helping them triumph in 1977's Soccer Bowl against the Seattle Sounders before hanging up his boots.
The three-time World Cup winner's abilities are often compared to those of modern greats Messi and Ronaldo, as well as the legendary Diego Maradona, but former Scotland forward Scott believes he should be recognised as the greatest to play the game.
"I think you've got to recognise different eras in football, and over the last 10 or 15 years with Ronaldo and Messi, they deserve the accolades they get for being the best players," Scott told Stats Perform.
"But I think they're the best players of this era, or have been the best players of this era.
"They are now coming to the end of their careers. Someone else will take on that mantle over the next 15 or 20 years but in my opinion, I will always say Pele is definitely the best player."
Scott added Pele would have achieved even more had he enjoyed the advantages of modern football.
"I think he would be better," Scott said.
"To be honest, I think any player like Pele, [Diego] Maradona, George Best, [Johan] Cruyff – attacking players who are great individuals and can all score goals – nowadays, with the way the game is played where you're virtually not allowed to tackle anybody, I think they would be much, much better players.
"Physically, he was a strong man and when you look back at pictures, way back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he played both in Santos and for Brazil, he got some abuse on the pitch.
"He used to take a hell of a lot of abuse, but he would still be there after 90 minutes and he would still shrug them aside and score the goals he scored.
"When I came up against them [the Cosmos] in America, that was in 1977. Pele at that time would have been 36, his physique was unbelievable. He could still play. In my era, he was the best player in the world."
While Scott was unable to prevent Pele from ending his stint in New York with a 2-1 win, he did manage to nutmeg the Cosmos man during their meeting – a moment he continues to cherish.
"It's not something you think about during the game. It's just a case of there's an opponent, get the ball and get past them, and he pulled me back and fouled me," he said.
"Anybody at home that sees this picture and has a word with me about it, I just laugh and tell them I nutmegged him and that was him getting his own back, pulling me back and he didn't like it.
"It doesn't matter who it was it but at the end of the day, it was a great picture for me."
Colorado Rapids v Minnesota United: Loons 'start from zero' in every game – Ramsay
Eric Ramsay urges Minnesota United not to get ahead of themselves despite a high-flying start to the season as they prepare to travel to Colorado Rapids.
Minnesota have lost just two games in the MLS this season and are currently second in the Western Conference after a run of five without defeat.
However, Ramsay is keen to make sure his side do not get complacent despite their good run of form.
"I'm trying not to read too much into the table because it changes so quickly," he said.
"You can feel as we are at the moment that you're on a really good run, but when you look at the table, and you find you haven't really got much separation, although you feel like you've had five games when you've had to grind out good performances and results.
"I've used the phrase with the players a few times that we're starting from zero every game. Our form that we go into games with is meaningless."
Colorado are just three points behind Minnesota in the table, sitting in sixth, having alternated between a win and a loss in their last six matches.
Head coach Chris Armas remains optimistic after their defeat to FC Cincinnati last weekend, saying: "We're on our way to becoming a really good team," he said.
"The results show that, the performances show that, the mentality of the team shows that. We've beaten some pretty good teams this year.
"We gave everything we had [in the defeat to FC Cincinnati] and fell a little short, but it makes us no less competitors or winners. We think we're better for [the loss]."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Rafael Navarro
Navarro is the first Rapids player since Kei Kamara in 2019-20 to score in four consecutive regular-season matches. Only three players in the team’s history, most recently Omar Cummings in 2010, have scored in five straight league matches.
Minnesota United – Joseph Rosales
Rosales has recorded an assist in five consecutive regular-season matches for Minnesota United, the first player to do so in the team’s history. Rosales has totaled seven assists in those five games after recording just two assists in his first 53 MLS matches.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
The Rapids suffered a 5-3 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday, the club’s fifth defeat of the season. Colorado have bounced back following their first four losses of the season, winning the next match three times, and drawing once.
Minnesota earned a 2-1 win against the Rapids in their last visit to Colorado in March 2023 – it was their first road win against the Rapids in club history (D1 L5 prior).
Indeed, Minnesota have 24 points from their first 12 games this season (W7 D3 L2), six more than they have ever had at this stage of a season before. The Loons have won four of their last five matches (D1).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids – 36.1%
Draw – 25.8%
Minnesota United – 38.1%
St. Louis City v Seattle Sounders: Carnell wants Citypark turned into a 'fortress'
Bradley Carnell has challenged St. Louis City to make Citypark a formidable place to play as they prepare to welcome the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
St. Louis have lost just one of their six MLS home games this season, helping them to ninth in the Western Conference.
Carnell’s side have, however, lost their last two matches, including their most recent home outing, but the head coach is not worried about their recent form.
He said: "The standings are not an indicator of if we give everything or not. Everything should be on the line every single day.
"For sure, there are moments of ebbs and flows through a season, and you get to mitigate through those just like every other team in the league. We're just focusing on our next game against a respectable opponent.
"We want to see if we can keep up and keep on pushing and turn Citypark into the fortress we know it can become to get three points."
Seattle sit two points below St. Louis in 10th after failing to win their previous two matches.
Head coach Brian Schmetzer wants his side to use last season’s win over St. Louis as inspiration to get back to winning ways.
"It's a tough place to play, they were on a good roll last year," he said.
"This year their results aren't quite as good, but they're still a good team. Last year's performance there away from home was good, it was solid. We scored early goals and held on. Good defence. Solid performance."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Joao Klauss
Klauss has scored in four of St. Louis’ last nine matches in the MLS, netting the opener on two occasions. He is also the club’s top scorer this season with five goals.
Seattle Sounders – Cristian Roldan
Roldan completed 82 of 88 passes in Seattle’s draw with Vancouver on Saturday, both the most in a match by a Sounders player this season. It was the most passes Roldan has completed in an MLS match since connecting on 109 passes against the Galaxy in August 2019.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
After losing only one of their first 11 regular-season matches in 2024 (W3 D7), St. Louis have lost consecutive games. This is the fifth time they have lost two straight regular-season matches, though they have never lost three in a row in league play before.
Seattle have won both of their matches against St. Louis, outscoring them, 5-0, in those two games. The Sounders were the only team to keep clean sheets in two matches against St. Louis last season.
Seattle drew 1-1 with Vancouver last Saturday, thanks to a Ryan Gauld equalizing penalty for the Whitecaps at 93:59. It was the latest result-changing goal the Sounders have ever conceded in a regular-season MLS match.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 44.8%
Draw – 27%
Seattle Sounders – 28.2%
Al-Riyadh 2-2 Al-Nassr: Laporte sent off for punch as Al-Nemer salvages point
Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte was sent off for punching Mohammed Al-Aqel on the arm as Al-Nassr played out a 2-2 draw with Al-Riyadh in the Saudi Pro League.
Meshari Al-Nemer's 97th-minute strike salvaged a point for Al-Nassr, who had trailed for over half the game and played with a one-man disadvantage for over half an hour.
Otavio had put Al-Nassr ahead only for Andre Gray to drag the hosts level, before Al-Aqel gave David Ospina no chance with a terrific overhead kick to make it 2-1.
Al-Nassr's position was put in further jeopardy when Laporte was sent off following a bizarre off-the-ball incident which saw him grab and punch Al-Aqel on the elbow, while Cristiano Ronaldo came up with a glaring miss from Sadio Mane's pass across the six-yard box.
Al-Nemer levelled at the death for Al-Nassr, though they still sit some 14 points adrift of champions Al-Hilal, who could complete an unbeaten season against Al-Wehda on Monday.
Data Debrief: Laporte's horror show
It was a game to forget for Laporte, whose bizarre punch on Al-Aqel put Al-Nassr up against it versus a team still in danger of relegation.
Laporte did not attempt a single tackle in the game while his four duels contested were the joint-fewest of every outfield starter (alongside Khalid Al-Shuwayyi). He was also sent off in Al-Nassr's AFC Champions League quarter-final tie against Al Ain in March.
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