QATAR: Pele says it is too early to call Cristiano Ronaldo a great player

Pele says that it is too soon to call Cristiano Ronaldo a great player. Brazil soccer legend Pele says that Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo needs to play at the same level for a few years to be called great player. The Portuguese has been in sensational form for Manchester United this season but Pele said in Qatar on Wednesday (April 18) that he feels Ronaldo needs to maintain his level of play for a number of years before he can be called one of the world's great players. "Of course Cristiano Ronaldo today is one of the good players," said Pele. "To mention him as one of the best players in the world I think is very soon. We have Kaka who plays very well too and I think Kaka is at the same level as him, some years ago, four or five years ago, we had Ronaldinho in good shape. I think to compare Cristiano with the great players is too soon, we have to wait a little bit, let's see in one or two more years if they keep at the same level." Three-time World Cup winner Pele sounded a note of caution about Brazil's bid to host the 2014 tournament, now unopposed since the withdrawal of Colombia from the race, citing the problems South Africa has faced since they won the right to host the event in 2010. "We must be prepared because Africa has a little problem because everybody fights and everybody worked hard to see the World Cup in Africa and then it's a little complicated, the situation there, because we have only three years until the next World Cup and Africa still has a little problem," he said. "I hope Brazil will be prepared because today to organise a World Cup is very expensive, it's very difficult because it's 32 countries, it's not so easy." Pele also warned about the expectations that the Brazil side would face from their own fans if they do host the World Cup. "The people of Brazil are crazy to see the World Cup there but always I have something in my mind I remember Brazil in the past," he said. "A lot of young Brazilian fans think that if you play the World Cup in Brazil, Brazil will win the World Cup, that's not 100 percent right, because Brazil was a favourite in 1950 and nobody expected Brazil to lose the game, we lost the game in Brazil against Uruguay in 1950." Drawing comparisons with his own experience in the 1970s when he went to play in the U.S. alongside players like Franz Beckenbauer and George Best, Pele said he was not sure if former England captain David Beckham's transfer to L.A.Galaxy was a good move for the player but it was good for soccer in the country. "I don't know if it's a good choice but for America it's a fantastic promotion. He could help the same as myself, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Georgio Chinaglia when we were all at the end of our career we promoted football in the United States. Then I think George Best was in L.A. at the same team where Beckham is going to play, I hope he can help a lot though," he said. Pele also had words of support for Diego Maradona, who was recently re-admitted to hospital with alcohol related problems. "It's a shame because Maradona two years ago opened a programme, a talk show, I was there to help him with the first programme. At that time he was very well, he had recovered, and then unfortunately now he's back in hospital. It's difficult to say exactly what happened because before it was drugs and now the doctors say it's alcohol. I don't know exactly what happened but I feel very sorry for him being in hospital," he said. Pele was speaking at the launch in Doha of the Aspire Academy, an ambitious programme that will provide talented African students from seven nations with a chance to study and train in one of the world's most advanced sports academies

ITN Source | April 19, 2007

Tags:. .crazy. .bit. .note. .remember. .form